The Second Time Around
by Queensbaby
Summary: Jahi was the first born son of Seto Kaiba, but when a series of heartbreaking events befall their family, Jahi is sent back in time to set things right.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

_The day started as any typical day would. I woke early in the morning and took the limo out to work. The day is still very clear in my mind. I skipped breakfast as usual and checked myself in the body mirror. That day, I was wearing the white Kaiba Corp. trench coat my father loved when he was my age. Now it was mine and I was scrupulous in making sure the old coat looked as new as the last time he wore it. In the inside pocket were two Blue Eyes White Dragons cards which also once belonged to my father. I wasn't as big on dueling as he was, but I cherished them even more than that white trench coat I wore everyday for more personal reasons. I left the mansion alone that day. My father almost never takes a mental day, but today was special._

_Because my father wasn't there, work was much less stressful for me. Employees had an annoying habit of asking to see Mr. Kaiba and not specifying which one it wanted to see. Whether it's my father Seto Kaiba, my uncle Mokuba Kaiba, or myself Jahi Kaiba. Jahi was the name my mother gave me when she was going to give me her last name, Ishtar, but decided to change her mind and give me my father's name at the last minute. When he won custody of me from her, the name became permanent. So now I was Jahi Kaiba. If you asked me or my father, we'd tell you that the mix of the two languages didn't flow, but I took pride in my name. I was a dignified Kaiba as my name suggested._

_I went back home earlier than I usually did to spend some time with my father. It was a very hard day for everyone in my family but especially for him. Uncle Mokuba came back with me, to check up on him. I walked up the marble staircase and down the hall to his study. As I opened the door, I peered in to see if he was inside. As I thought, he was sitting behind his desk. But he was also doing something I hadn't expected. He was looking out the window, focusing his unyielding attention towards the sky. Never before had I seen Seto Kaiba looked so depressed. I immediately wondered if he was trying to find them amongst the clouds. _

_"What are you doing home so early?" He asked without releasing his focus towards the sky._

_As I entered the room, I bowed slightly to him before speaking. "I decided to spend the day with you. I figured you needed the company. Are you alright father?"_

_"I appreciate your concern but I don't need to be taken care of. I'm fine. Is your uncle here with you?"_

_"Yes father, he's downstairs."_

_"Figures. Come sit with me Jahi." I quickly pulled up a chair and sat at the opposite side of the desk. We sat in a calm silence for a long time before he spoke again. "Do you realize that it's been 16 years since your mother died?"_

_"I know. You still miss her a lot, don't you?"_

_"I hate to admit it, but I do."_

_"Why didn't you two ever get married?" When I asked this, he started to laugh._

_"Why didn't Ishizu and I get married? Because we hated each other."_

_"You couldn't have possibly hated each other that much. You had two children together."_

_"Yeah well, you should have tried to tell me that before she died. Maybe things could have turned out differently. Do you remember her at all Jahi?"_

_"Not really," I said, shaking my head sadly. "I remember small things like her holding me."_

_"That's not surprising. She always had a great chest. That would probably be the only thing I remembered too." He said with a large grin. "Any other memories?"_

_"Well I don't know if they're memories or dreams, but I think I remember you two fighting a lot. The clearest one is when Sagira was born." Saying her name caused me to stop short. My father took in a deep sigh._

_"It probably wasn't a dream. We were arguing when Sagira was born and we argued whenever they came to visit you. I wish you had a better image of Ishizu; she was a great woman, looking back on it. You can't remember her face?"_

_"No, but she had long black hair, right?"_

_"Yes. Your hair is more like mine in the back but like Marik's, it wont quite straighten in the front and complexion wise, both you and Sagira leaned more towards your mother's. Other than that, you look nothing like her. You have my eyes, my hands, my build, everything." At times like those I wished I looked more like my mother, but I knew what to say to cheer him up._

_"But Sagira looked more like mother. We both got your eyes but other than that, she looked just like her, right?" My father grinned again._

_"Have I really said it that much?" He still continued to focus his attention towards the sky as he stroked his goatee. "But it's true." After a while his grin faded and he looked a little depressed again. "Do you have the card with you Jahi?"_

_"Of course father." I answered pulling the two Blue Eyes cards from my inside pocket. I quickly examined them and handed him the card on the left. He turned slightly to take the card and looked at it as well. _

_A long time ago, my father gave one of his Blue Eyes cards to me. His second Blue Eyes went to my little sister Sagira, who was only two or so at the time. I tried to persuade him that giving something so valuable to a child wasn't a smart thing to do but he glared at me angrily so I backed off the subject. He was a very intimidating person to a four- year-old. However, Sagira took surprisingly good care of the card, placing it in a small jewelry box with a picture of the three of us as well as other such trinkets a child finds valuable. _

_My mother died when Sagira was still an infant and so she had absolutely no recollection of her at all. Many nights she'd ask me what she was like. Not actually knowing, I'd often mimic things I heard from my father and my Uncle Marik and Uncle Odion. She was a very intuitive girl and had the potential to do great things once she got older, and because of her passion for our father's favorite game at such a young age we were convinced she'd be the next great duelist, like he was. Unfortunately, like my mother, Sagira was long dead now. She was run over by a car when she was five, just like our mother was. In fact, the day Sagira died was the 5__th__ anniversary of the day my mother did. Needless to say, this was not an easy day for my father, who was with both of them at their final moments._

_"So how long has it been since Sagira died?" My father asked, looking down at the card._

_"11 years today." I answered glumly. As I remembered that horrible day so long ago, I felt a lump form in my throat but tried to brush it aside. Finally he turned around completely and looked at me._

_"If you need to cry, now would be the time to do it. I won't allow it anytime else."_

_"I'm not going to cry father." I replied, embarrassed that he could tell I was trying not to._

_"You're a lot like me when I was your age. You shouldn't suppress your emotions for too long or else they'll build up inside and make you explode. They'll make you do something you'll regret. I used to think that confidence and anger were the only emotions that were acceptable to show, but I was so wrong. Ishizu, she tried to warn me so many times but I just got angry with her."_

_"Father?"_

_"She warned me. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I fucked up everything." He continued calmly, stroaking his goatee._

_"Father, what are you talking about?" _

_"I can hear them calling me." He continued to grin, returning his gaze towards the sky. "The time's come for me, but it's not too late; not for you. Show no fear, Jahi. I didn't raise you to be a coward."_

_"Father, I don't understand…" but the sight of my father pulling out a gun and loading it cut me off. "What are you doing? Father stop! Put it away!" He ignored my request and continued. "Please, give me the gun. Don't do this, you don't know what you're doing." I pleaded._

_"Who do you take me for? A madman? Do I ever go through with anything without thinking it over thoroughly? Stop acting so childish, I raised you better than that!" He growled at me in anger. I sat petrified in my seat. I'd never seen him do anything like this. After a minute he calmed down and looked at me as lovingly as was possible for the man. "I'm sorry I lost my temper, I'm just nervous, I guess. Come here."_

_At first I didn't know what to make of it. Hesitantly, I raised out of my seat and stood by his side. Even though I was unsure how stable he was or even if this was the same man who raised me, I still felt humbled by the man, the way I had been all my life. I felt awkward standing by him; looking down at him. As a child I always looked up at him and just recently began to see him eye to eye. I always felt it represented my status in life. At that time I was looking down at him; I didn't understand him and thought he was being harsh. But I always knew there to be a reason for his actions in the past and I wouldn't doubt him now. I slowly bent down on my knees until I was at my rightful spot, looking him eye to eye._

_I stared straight into those cool, confident eyes. The eyes I had inherited from him. At first, I still didn't understand why he looked so confident, but then his eyes showed me the answer. The world seemed to stop and only his voice remained. I'd never experienced anything like it before. _

_"I've made some mistakes in the past but I won't make them again." He continued. As he spoke to me, I realized that I was sinking further and further into the ground until I felt my head fall onto his lap. "Now don't be that way. I raised you to be a stronger person than that. Things are going to turn out fine, you'll see. You're the only hope left for this family now." He said calmly, petting my hair._

_I heard the click of the safety on the gun being taken off and then heard it cock. All the while he continued to pet my hair. "Father…please!" I begged more pathetically than I'd ever heard myself. I wanted to stop him but my body was frozen in fear._

_The last words I remember hearing him say were 'I love you Jahi'. I looked up at him, almost in tears. The last time he'd said that was when Sagira died. I was still young then; only seven years old and I became sick and bedridden in grief. I didn't want to loose another family member. I'd lost my mother and my sister on this day already and I couldn't take loosing someone else. _

_Something took a hold of me and I felt like that grieving child again. In a last effort to stop him I screamed. "No Baba!" _

_That's when the gun went off and right before my very eyes, the back off his skull exploded by the force of the bullet. The blood splattered all over the wall behind him and then oozed out of the open wound. I sat there in shock for a long time, not wanting to believe what I'd seen. The blood quickly formed a large puddle around our feet, which is what brought me out of my shock. _

_"Uncle Mokuba!" I screamed, clamoring away from the blood and my father's dead corpse. I slipped around in the blood but I didn't stop. "Uncle Mokuba!" I screamed all the way down the hall and to the marble staircase. Behind me was a clear trail of bloody footprints I had created with every step._

_Sagira was always an energetic child, running to and fro since she first learned how to walk. It drove my father insane. She had a tendency to fall down the stairs. Nothing would happen to her though. A bruise, a scrape, and one time she cried for nearly an hour because she landed on her head. I'd never fallen down the stairs before so when I slipped on the blood coming off my own boots and started to stumble, it took me by surprise._

_Just before my face made contact with the marble stair, the world appeared to slow down. In one second I was staring straight at the marble step, in the next, my entire life passed before my eyes. A lot of the pictures were things I didn't even remember and for the first time in years, I saw my mother's face clearly. Immediately after I'd seen her, I saw the step again. I prepared for the impact and awaited the pain I'd feel, but I never felt anything. I was dead before I hit the seventh step. _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

_It took me a second to realize what had happened to me. Everything had happened so suddenly. You can understand my frustration when I saw no bright light, no vision of my family lost, when I heard no trumpets playing or choirs singing. No. Everything was calm before I started to panic. The tragedy of the moment really sunk in when I realized I was looking at my own dead corpse, mangled at the bottom of the stairs. It was not a pretty sight._

_I felt a hand on my shoulder. For some reason, I expected to see my father, but I turned to see an Egyptian man in a white gown and head turban, with earrings, and aqua blue eyes. I noticed that he was holding a scale made out of gold. When I saw it, I remembered what my uncle Marik had told me. _

_In my mother's religion, they believed that after death, Anpu or Anubis; the God of death, judges your soul by measuring the weight of your heart against the feather of Ma'at. If your heart is heavier than the feather, it is fed to the dog Ammut and you are doomed to wander for eternity, never to find peace in the afterlife. Personally, being a child when I'd heard this, I preferred my father's belief in heaven and hell. I figured if hell was all fire and brimstone, that I could take it. I actually kind of liked fire._

_Seeing the Egyptian man, who should have had the head of a jackal, with the scale, I mechanically grabbed at my heart. "There is no need to be afraid Jahi. I'm not the one you fear." He told me._

_Hearing this I let go of my chest hastily, disgusted by my cowardice. "I'm not frightened by anything. Who are you?" _

_"My name is Shaadi, and I'm here to offer you a second chance at life."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"This is not as it was meant to be. This is not the path destiny had made for your family. Because of this, I'm giving you a second chance to make it right." I stopped and looked at this stranger, wondering whether I could trust him or not. For all I knew, this could be some trick or test. _

_"I don't believe in one predetermined destiny. People make their own." I answered, turning away from him._

_" How much like your father you are, Jahi Kaiba." He said sighing. _

_I turned suddenly. "You know my father?"_

"_We've never met but I've always known who he is." The man simply smiled at me and continued. "It's true that not every decision you make is predetermined. Men are free to choose their own path, but in the end, those roads will all lead to the same place."_

_"Is that so?" I was becoming tired of his nonsense. Now that I knew he was not Anpu or some angel come down to judge me, I felt no fear towards him. "Well, if that's true, then how could my family have ended up in the wrong place?"_

_"Because of your father's arrogance. There comes a point in a person's life when they reach the path that will lead them to their destiny. When they understand that what has been laid before them should be embraced. But like you, he refused to accept what he saw and turned away from it."_

_Just then, my heart felt cold and I became aware of the fact that it had long ceased to beat. My uncle had run into the room and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes became wet and were staring straight at the mangled mess that was once my body. I watched helpless, as he ran over to my body screaming for help. _

_"The unnecessary destruction of your family was fate's way of starting with a new slate, as you say. I could really care less about your father, but I owe it to Ishizu and Marik, so I'm giving you one chance and one chance only. You can go back to anytime you wish and you'll be allowed to use anything that may help your cause. I'll leave you to think it over. Call when you need me and remember to choose wisely."_

_Before I could get out another word, the Egyptian man was gone. I stood there for a while thinking over what I'd just heard. I still thought it was bullshit, but figured that since I was dead already, I didn't have anything to loose by doing it. _

_Uncle Mokuba was still on the floor trying fruitlessly to resessitate my body. My heart went out to him. He could be a very emotional person and he cared about me like I was his son too. He checked my pulse and finally came to terms with the fact that I was gone. He desperately tried to cradle me in his arms, but when he lifted my head from its resting place, my head lagged and the broken bone in my neck poked through the skin, creating a disgusting sight. I turned away but he simply held up my head as well. _

_"Seto! Seto!" He yelled upstairs in tears. I cringed realizing that he had no idea my father was as dead as I was. Probably even more so. My father was __the__ most important thing in his life. I didn't want to put him through all this pain if he didn't have to, and I didn't want my father to have to die in vain the way he did. But how could I fix something I hardly understood? The answer came to me just as quickly as the question._

_"Shaadi!" I called out. Through the steps he appeared looking quite pleased. _

_"That didn't take long at all. So are you ready to seize your family's destiny or will you follow in your father's footsteps."_

_" I want to go back to however long ago my father refused his destiny." I told him. Shaadi grinned at me._

_"I know where you're going with this. Smart move." He placed his hand on my shoulder and the world morfed around me. I was going back. _


	3. Chapter 3

Seto Kaiba felt like shit. He thought that when he beat Ishizu in court and won custody of Jahi, that he'd feel good. Instead, the sight of the mother of his child, breaking down in tears as the counselor pried the boy from her arms was unrewarding and empty. Also, the effects of being a single parent were starting to set in.

He noticed that Jahi was an unusually quiet baby, not that it was a bad thing, but the child seemed restless. Smiling and laughing was about as common as crying only doing so for a specific reason. Kaiba even forced himself to try playing with his new boy, but all he did was look back at him and cough.

But when the darkness set in around the mansion and Kaiba figured it was time to let the boy sleep, he cried uncontrollably. Every room in the estate was filled with Jahi's screams. He'd been doing so for hours.

It was nearing 11:00 p.m. and Kaiba sat by the cradle, rocking it with his foot and hoping the baby would cry itself to sleep. At present, he figured that he'd need to hire a nanny as soon as possible so that he could get up for work in the morning.

The ring of the doorbell was a pleasant interruption from the sobs. Kaiba walked downstairs to the door, trying not to reveal his exhaust. As he neared the door it dawned on him that no one had buzzed in at the gate. He opened the door to reveal none other than Ishizu.

"What are you doing here Ishizu?"

"I had to see him Seto, you can't deprive me of that."

"We've already negotiated visiting hours." He answered getting ready to close the door.

"Once a month! Seto please, you can't go through with this. You can't do that to him, he needs his mother!"

"What he needs is a stable environment. Now we've already been through this and the court ruled in my favor Ishizu. It's over!" Jahi's cries echoed from the upstairs and caused a lump to form in Ishizu's throat. She desperately wanted to hold her son. Kaiba could see the torment he was putting her through and wanted to put an end to it, but he couldn't let go of his anger.

Ishizu stood in the doorway listening to her son's cries and fighting back tears. She could also see how exhausted Kaiba was and how much he wanted to let her in. "You look tired." She said softly. "Has he been hard to manage?"

"He's been really quiet most of the day." He answered folding his arms across his chest.

"How long has he been crying?"

"A few hours."

"You should be sleeping. You have to go to work in a few hours. You have a business to run, remember?"

"I'd like to see someone sleep through that." He retorted, pointing upstairs.

"Seto, why don't you let me take care of him for tonight? After all you've put me through, you owe me that much. And if you won't do it for me or for Jahi, then do it for yourself. You're going to be up all night." Kaiba said nothing, still looking unsure. "I won't take him anywhere! I just want to watch him tonight. Please Seto!" She begged.

Kaiba still said nothing but sighed and let her come in. The crying grew louder as they made their way through the house and up the stairs. They walked in complete and utter silence, the tension between them too great to allow idle conversation. They finally reached the upstairs and stopped at a large door in between Mokuba's room and the Master bedroom. Kaiba opened the large doors and held them, allowing Ishizu passage inside.

The nursery took Ishizu's breath away. Seto had obviously spared no expense for his new son and the room was most definatley designed by Kaiba himself. Everything from the carpet, to the crib, to the diapers on the changing table was perfectly matching colors of blue and white. Evidence of the almighty Blue Eyes was just about everywhere. Nothing was too fluffy or frilly since he would have to live with being in the room sometimes too, but everything in there seemed hand picked or hand made especially for this one little boy.

The nursery had Kaiba's name all over it; it even smelled expensive. Diamond and crystal trinkets like pacifiers and such were placed around the room, out of harms way, while the curtains and cradle walls were made out of expensive silks, cashmeres and rare fabrics. The personal touches around the room were what really grabbed Ishizu's heartstrings. What looked to be some type of duel disk was attached to the ceiling above the cradle. From it, a holographic mobile was displaying three Blue Eyes White Dragons gliding majestically through the air.

Ishizu walked slowly into the room holding her hand over her heart, her mouth somewhat agape as she looked around. Ever since she met Seto she knew there was more to him than he would let show, but never had she imagined that he was capable of putting so much out for a son he'd only been aware existed for a few months. She felt so much love and dedication and meticulous planning from this room and fell in love with it.

Almost as though he knew his mother was in the room, the infant Jahi, whom had recently learned how to sit up, sat up and lowered his crying. Ishizu smiled, bleary eyed and hurried over to her son. As she picked him up from the cradle, Jahi started to cry harder.

"Shhh! It's all right now Jahi, Mama's here now." She whispered gently while holding him close. "You should get some sleep, Seto. I'll watch over him tonight." She said, sitting down in a hand painted silver, blue rocking chair with hand stuffed white padding.

Ishizu closed her eyes and rocked in the chair. Jahi whined helplessly, burying his face into his mother's chest. His tiny hands grabbed her left breast painfully as he tried to find some means to suckle. "Ouch! Jahi, stop that!" she complained loosening his grip on her, which caused Jahi to cry again.

Ishizu gazed around the room for something that could calm him. Her eyes fell on a diamond studded pacifier in his cradle. Picking it up, she noticed how light it was and smiled. Kaiba had pulled out all the stops but still remembered what was healthy for the baby to have. Placing the pacifier in his mouth, she rocked slowly in the chair.

As she rocked him back and forth, she hummed a tune. She sang it often while she was pregnant with him and continued to sing it after he was born. Hearing his mother's voice combined with the familiar tune made the boy finally stop crying and actually start to smile. After a while his smiling face became neutral and he looked up at his mother with large blue eyes, which he had inherited from his father.

Ishizu looked back at those eyes. Not until she gave birth to Jahi did she ever see the eyes of Seto Kaiba look so bright and innocent. She smiled and continued to hum the tune until his eyelids became too heavy.

Kaiba never left the room. He stood there in the doorway the entire time watching as Ishizu seemed to perform the miracle of ending the never ending sobs. The tune she was humming was unfamiliar to him, but he knew at once, by the way she was singing it, that the words wouldn't be anything he could decipher anyway. As he watched her, he felt something inside of him. It was something telling him that this was the way his life was supposed to be.

Ishizu deeply inhaled her baby's scent. She had loved the way he smelt since the day he was born. His pajamas were pure white, made of fine Egyptian cotton; the best there is. Jahi deserved the best, and she knew in her heart of hearts that Kaiba was the only man in the world who would make sure he had it. Her eyes stung again with tears she couldn't stop as she looked around the nursery again. She was in love. She felt as though this was the room her son was supposed to have, but she also felt as though it was her room too. Ishizu never wanted to leave the mansion, never wanted to leave the chair, never wanted to leave her son, but it would seem that Kaiba would never give her that option.

A lump formed in Kaiba's throat which he could never brush away. He longed to reach out and touch her. To tell her that he was sorry for making her look foolish in court, that she was forgiven and that he wanted her to stay with him, that he wanted his son to be raised in a complete home the way he himself never was. Something was holding him back though. The anger and the resentment was still there and he couldn't let go of it. He watched coldly as Ishizu suddenly broke down in silent tears, cradling her son.

He couldn't watch any longer. Though it hurt him to do so and even though it felt as though he was making a mistake, he turned away from the nursery and into his room.

_I was unable to make any contact with Father until after he was asleep. Until that time, I watched the scene unfold around me. I had looked longingly at my mother, remembering her face. I now understood what people meant when they tried to describe her elegant beauty. She was a beautiful woman. Father was a stranger to me. He was around my age now, instead of being intimidating and muscular, he was lean with my exact build and no goatee._

I was always told that I was the spitting image of my father, but I couldn't see it at all. Looking at him now, I could see the resemblance. He was almost my duplicate in everything except in hair and complexion. It was because of this that he was so foreign to me and I was unsure of how much I trusted him. On the other hand, I could immediately see my little sister in my mother and warmed up to her much quicker.

When Father left my nursery, I followed him but longed to stay with my mother a while longer. As he undressed, I looked around the room, figuring that it would be impolite to watch him undress. I figured that since we were so much alike, I wouldn't want some strange spirit watching me undress whether he was my son or not and since we were practically identical, he didn't have anything I didn't have already, so why look?

As I glanced around the large, grandoise master bedroom, I noticed a familiar article of clothing hanging in his closet. The white Kaiba Corp. trench coat he gave me was there looking no different than it did while I was wearing it. I felt some pride in the fact that I had taken such good care of it. I also noticed that his dueling deck was sitting on his armoire, and at the very top of the deck was his prized Blue Eyes.

The lights in the room turned off and I watched as Father climbed into bed and shut his eyes. I stood there waiting. I wasn't sure exactly what I was waiting for but I knew that I would recognize it when it happened. I turned away from him for a while and returned to my nursery. My mother almost appeared to be in some sort of trance. She eyes were not blinking, focused on the sleeping infant in her arms.

I kneeled down beside her and hugged her tightly around the waist. She didn't react at all to my embrace, which I had completely expected. However, I was a bit surprised when I felt her shiver when I brushed against her arm. Everything felt so unreal. I'd never felt this way before, but my mother and I seemed to have some kind of connection.

"I missed you mother." I told her. My mother smiled at the child in her arms and pet the side of his face. That's when something strange happened. As her hand touched his cheek I felt a warm hand touch mine. Shocked, I raised my hand to my cheek and touched the warm feeling. My mother's smile became brighter and tears streamed down her face. My entire body felt warm again as she clutched my infant body tighter.

"I missed you too." She whispered into her child's ear; my ear. I could feel her breath tickle my skin and I hugged her tighter. At that moment I knew that my trip down the stairs must have messed with my brain because the last time I hugged anyone that way was at my sister's funeral. I knew that I needed to get my mother back no matter what it took.

Suddenly, another strange feeling built inside me and pulled me back towards Father's bedroom. I stood up and kissed my mother goodbye, hopefully not for the last time. I left the nursery and returned to Father's bedside. On instinct, I placed my hand atop his forehead and experienced a strange sensation. Before I could rationalize what was happening, I was surrounded in endless white. It was eerie. I knew exactly what was going on but I had no idea at the same time. I didn't know what was going on but at the same time I knew I must have been waiting for Father to arrive.

As though on cue, Father appeared out of the pure white nothingness looking as confused as I felt. My heart felt as though it would start to beat again at any moment. It was time to restore our destiny.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Kaiba wandered aimlessly through the blinding white light, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he noticed a figure a little ways away. Cautiously, he approached the figure. As he came ever closer, he noticed that it was a teenager around his age. He wore his white Kaiba corp. trench coat with a silver V-neck shirt and slacks. He held himself strait back and impressively with his arms folded across his chest. Kaiba could already tell by his mighty, confident air that he was a person with a lot of pride. He felt as though he should have recognized the kid from somewhere but couldn't place it. Kaiba composed himself as he grew ever nearer to the stranger.

"Where am I?" Kaiba questioned, looking around at the bright nothingness around them.

"We're inside your head. You tell me." Jahi was almost shocked by the tone he had used as he said it. He wasn't used to talking to his father that way, yet it felt more like he was talking to himself rather than the man that he admired growing up. Kaiba looked around the nothingness again and shrugged before his eyes landed on Jahi's coat.

"What are you doing with my coat?" He demanded, raising his voice and grabbing for it. Jahi jumped out of the way of Kaiba's hand and straitened the collar back out.

"It's my coat. You gave it to me."

"What kind of bullshit is that? Don't play games with me. Who are you and why are you in my head?" Kaiba glared at him.

"It's not bullshit. You gave me this coat or you're going to give me this coat on my seventeenth birthday." Jahi came closer and they stared at each other eye to eye. "I'm Jahi."

Kaiba's eyes widened in shock and he stepped back. Catching himself, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Jahi skeptically. "What are you talking about? Jahi is my son. He's only a couple of months old."

"I'm not from this time. I'm only a few months old right now but I'm going to be your son whether you like it or not." Jahi crossed his arms.

Kaiba was silent for a while, thinking. If this was really a dream than it was possible that this was his son. Deep down he believed that it was Jahi. The eyes gave him away. The teen in front of him had his son's eyes; his eyes. "Fine, if you're my son than why are you here? Why are you my age?"

Jahi closed his eyes and sighed. "Because I'm dead." He half whispered. "Father, please I need to talk to you. You're making a mistake. If you go through with this you're going to destroy our family."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you forcing your children to live in a broken home!" He shouted. "I'm talking about condemning me to watch everyone I love die!"

"What? Who's going to die?" Kaiba questioned, becoming confused.

"Mother, Sagira, you and finally me. We're all going to drop like flies because you're too stubborn to put the past behind you and forgive mother!"

"Who the hell is Sagira and what does Ishizu have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" Jahi spat at him. He caught himself and realized how rude he was being. Jahi took a second to cool down, breathing slowly and rubbing his eyes as he walked around his father. He tried to think of the best way to explain it. His father reminded him too much of himself for him to like Kaiba much.

"Are you really my son?" Kaiba growled at him. He was breathing hard as well. He wasn't very fond of this kid.

"Yes father." Jahi rubbed his eyes.

"Than look at me when I'm talking to you!" Kaiba shouted angrily. Jahi's head quickly shot up with attention. "Who do you think you are talking to me like that? I don't really know you and you may be as old as me but if you're my son, you should know that I don't take that shit, so you should show me some damn respect. You understand?"

Jahi looked at him fearfully but held in a smile. Kaiba was starting to sound like the man that raised him. "I… I'm sorry father. Excuse me." Jahi apologized, bowing slightly. "It's just that I've been having a hard day. First you shot yourself, then I broke my neck on the steps, and then Uncle Mokuba started crying. Then when I came back here… I'm sorry. It's just, I haven't seen mother since I was two and when I realized how things could have been, I felt some resentment."

"Slow down, I still don't understand what the hell you're talking about."

"The truth is, I don't know all the details. You never told me everything that happened. However, I should be able to show you."

"How?" Kaiba retorted, skeptically. Suddenly, the luminescence around them started to morph and change as though creating a more realistic setting around them.

_I would have never admitted it to him, but the truth was I had no idea what was going on at that moment. I speculated that this was the work of Shaadi, the spirit who approached me after my death. He said that I could use anything necessary to sway my father's judgment. When the bright nothingness transformed into the familiar setting of my father's office, I assumed that we had traveled into the past to witness the events that occurred. It made sense, beings as to how I said I would show him what would happen. When I realized my father seemed to recognize the scene, I became confident that this was what happened and that it was an instrument generously donated by Shaadi._

Father and I stood in the middle of his Kaiba Corp. office, a room I was quite familiar with. It seemed no different than the last time I had spoken to him there whilst I was still among the living. Behind the solid oak desk sat an image of Father, typing furiously at his laptop. I didn't recognize the obsolete model he was working on and chuckled to the thought that the man actually used one of those old things, however, it was probably the most advanced technology of the time. What I did recognize was the look on his face. That determined brow was exactly as it always had been and, from what my uncle told me, resembled my own.

We stood there awkwardly for while wondering why we had been taken here. Before Father could get out a question, the door to the office swung open. We turned around to see exactly who was about to enter. When Father saw whom it was his eyes widened in surprise.

Ishizu cautiously entered the office holding in her arms, many documents covered in hieroglyphics and Egyptian designs. When she recognized Kaiba working at his desk, she gave the faintest hint of a smile as well as what appeared to be nervousness.

"Working hard Seto?" she asked, entering the office. Kaiba didn't bother looking up from the screen.

"Close the door behind you." He muttered. Ishizu sighed in exasperation but closed the door quietly behind her nonetheless. She glided comfortably over to his desk and stood beside him until he finally looked up.

"These are the designs. I think the additional Egyptian themes for the game will alleviate the marketing trouble you've been having. In addition to bringing in a larger array of people, old duelists will still have the same game and know more about it's history. Nothing has been altered with the game play so people will still love the duel but now there is also the intrigue of knowing the fascinating origins and the feelings of being a part of the ancient past."

"I assume everything is in order? The sketches, the hieroglyphics, the designs?" Kaiba asked, focusing on the papers.

"Yes."

"And the museum has been compensated for their help?"

"Yes." She answered once again.

"Alright. Good work Ishizu. You've saved me a lot of work and investments."

"It was a pleasure to work with you again; on a friendlier basis this time." She smiled. Kaiba grinned to himself and nodded.

"So," Kaiba started, while looking back at the papers, the grin still evident on his face, "What's going to be your excuse to stay in Domino this time?" He asked, turning his chair to face her and extending his arms towards her.

"I need an excuse?" Ishizu sat daintily on his lap and put her arms around his shoulders while Kaiba pulled her in close.

"Well we don't want people to think that we're living together for the hell of it. There needs to be some business reason, otherwise they'll start to suspect that there is something happening between us." Despite the intimate position they were in, Kaiba's face remained as cold and neutral as ever.

"Well isn't there?" Ishizu cocked her head nervously to the side. "You said things were going to get serious between us."

"There's no need to get sensitive about it, we are serious. But we don't need the world knowing about it yet."

Kaiba took a hold of her chin and pressed her mouth against his. Ishizu returned the kiss graciously. They sat there, kissing for a long while, before Seto tore away from her.

"Why does it have to stay a secret? Don't you want to take our relationship further?"

"Further than what? We're sleeping together aren't we? You're living in my house, you have access to my accounts, and you've even gone to a parent/teacher meeting with Mokuba when I couldn't make it. How much further do expect to go now?"

"Seto, I just want to have what most women want. And I want to share it with you."

"Ishizu I'm nineteen years old! I have a corporation and a fourteen-year-old kid to look after, which takes time, attention and money. I don't need to be worrying about more bratty little kids running around. I have stock brokers, investors, and associates breathing down my neck 24/7. I don't need to deal with marriage. I've got a new game play design and amusement park to publicize. The last thing I need is the press taking more of an interest in my love life," he said giving her a small kiss, "than in my marketing. I haven't got the time to deal with more pressure in my life."

Kaiba gave her another kiss and shook his knee, motioning that it was time for her to get up. He allowed his hand to slide down her waist before running it through his slick hair.

"I'm not really in a place where I'm ready to make kissy faces in public, or for you to start popping out babies or shopping for wedding gowns. Nor am I ready for us to come up with disgusting little pet names for each other and have a game night with the other hopeless couples, okay. When I'm ready for that, I promise I'll tell you. It may take a few years, but I'll tell you."

With that, Kaiba went back to his laptop and returned to his former state of furious typing. Ishizu bit her bottom lip and discreetly tapped her lower abdomen as though pained by it. She forced a tear not to fall from her eye and quickly dropped her hand to the side.

"I have to go." She choked out suddenly and headed towards the door. Once her hand touched the doorknob, Seto called out to her.

"Ishizu, there's no reason to get upset over this. I'm not ashamed of you or anything like that. People will know about us when we want them to. Just give it time."

"I'm fine Seto, I just need to take care of something. I'll be in at around seven tonight."

"Not a problem." He said, returning to his work. Ishizu shut the door behind her and everything returned to normal.

Once she was alone in her car Ishizu allowed her tears to fall as she clutched her stomach with intensity. She was able to restrain herself from crying long enough for her to pull out of the driveway and drive down town. Her car crept along the city streets, much to the annoyance of many drivers, until she finally pulled up to a small, somewhat dilapidated building in the middle of downtown Domino city. She had been afraid that Kaiba would react that way and did some research on this place.

It was a free abortion clinic. She was two months pregnant with Kaiba's child. Ishizu knew that all she had to do was fill out some paper work and sit down on the table for everything to happen and Kaiba would never have to be notified. As she sat in her car, looking at the building, Ishizu broke down once again into uncontrollable tears. She was all for choice but she never planned or wanted to have an abortion herself. But Kaiba had just said, and had said many times before that he was already under a lot of pressure from so many angles. He was overwhelmed with issues at work, in the public eye, and at home. To pressure him into fatherhood now seemed wrong but the thought of giving up the child she had wanted for so long pained her more than words could describe.

She held her hand on the door for a long time, building up the courage even to step out of the car. Her hand was trembling out of control and she struggled to breathe. Trying to regain herself, he inhaled deeply and tried to empty her mind. She needed a sign. She needed to know she was making the right decision. Ishizu closed her eyes and meditated; her hand still gripping the door handle tightly.

_As my Father and I stood watching her, I could feel the agitation growing on him. I turned to look at him and saw that his expression was blank. I felt resentful at the fact that I could not sense whether he felt guilty or sad or remorseful of anything. The more I watched him, the more I saw myself in him, and the more I hated it. I forced my eyes off of my father and turned again to Mother. She still appeared to be meditating when I felt hands on my face. Although I didn't reveal anything with my exterior appearance, I felt odd. The hands felt like those of my mother when she touched my infant self's face, but not as loving. They felt as though they were lost and searching my face for recognition._

My heart went out to her. I wanted to help her. "**It'll be okay mother, I'm going to make everything right."** I thought to myself. But as I looked over once again at Father, I felt unsure that I had convinced him or rather had rehashed old wounds. His stare remained cold and distant. After a few minutes her eyes popped open.

"Jahi!" Ishizu spoke the name almost in fear. Her face fell yet again as she finally released the car door and leaned back in her seat. She threw her hands over her eyes and through her hair. "His name is Jahi." As she stared up and the car's ceiling, tears welled up in her eyes until she could no loner see clearly but she didn't wipe them away. She allowed them to roll down her cheeks, but she stopped sobbing.

"I can't do this." She said to herself having finally realized the reality of her situation. "How can I do this to Seto? He's not ready for this but… I…. I just can't do this." Reluctantly she regained herself and started the car up again. "Jahi, my son, what are we going to do?"

_With that my mother pulled away from the clinic and drove off. This time when she drove off we were unable to follow her. The scene faded and we returned to that blinding light momentarily before we were pulled yet again into another scene from my father's past. However it took a while for us to get a clear pictured, and for a moment I was worried that we had somehow gotten stuck. That's when an idea came to me._

"What happened after that?" I asked him.

My father's expression was getting angrier while we waited. He did not turn and look at me as he answered, "She left."

He shook his head, still in disbelief and anger. "She told me she needed to go home to take care of some things and that she'd try to come back soon. I let her use one of my planes and rented out a place for her to stay while she was there. She and Marik left saying they'd be back in a few months; three months at most. Immediately after she left, I missed her of course, and I guess people noticed. I tried real damn hard to stop the rumors but eventually it got out that we'd been a couple. Just as I expected people became more focused on that than anything I was trying to market. Sales suffered, but I was able to handle that, it was more of a small inconvenience than anything. But as the third month came around and I hadn't gotten as much as a phone call, I started to worry. People started asking about when Ishizu would be coming back and when I refused to answer, they speculated that I'd been dumped. The headlines got worse; fucking tabloids talking about how I did something to her, others just calling me pathetic. Eventually my plane from Egypt came back, but Marik was the only one on it."

"Uncle Marik said she wasn't coming back, didn't he father?" I said.

"Who the fuck does that?" Father started to yell. He was getting angrier the more he thought about it. "She uses my plane and my money so that she can leave me! She could have at least had the decency to call me, to say… something! Anything! But NO! I was left flat on my ass being either laughed at or pitied. Why? Because she was too weak to face me and tell me what was going on. Because she never really cared about me the way she was trying to make me believe she did. Because she had no faith in me as ANYTHING other than a business man." As he spoke I could feel the hurt in him. It was something he wasn't use to expressing. "I thought she understood me but she didn't. She thought what every other loser would have thought; that I wouldn't have cared…"

The room went from a fuzzy scene into perfect clarity.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

"You heard what I said. Don't play dumb with me Marik, I'm in no mood." Kaiba was at his wits end.

Ishizu had now been gone for six months. It had only been three months since he realized he'd been dumped though. Many people, mostly female people, tried to offer him comfort. Others laughed in his face. For a while, he sulked. He tried to hide it but his pain was redirected into anger and force. Before Ishizu left, Kaiba had been in the process of opening up to her in a way he had never allowed himself to open up to anyone. The blow of loosing her closed him up tighter than he had in years. In general, Kaiba tended to be meaner to women. This went especially to sympathizers who tried to get him to open up. He couldn't trust anyone except Mokuba. Mokuba was the only person in the world who'd never let him down.

This had been Kaiba's life for the three months after being dumped. In his mind, Ishizu had ruined him for good. He never wanted to hear her name again. That was one of the reasons this day in particular was turning out so bad.

It all started after a dispute at work. While heading to the bathroom between meetings, Kaiba happened across a female employee of his making a personal call home to check on her kids. She was still taking care of her work and so for a pre-Ishizu dumped Kaiba, it would have been okay, especially if it were only a short call. Unfortunately for her though, the post-Ishizu dumped Kaiba wasn't having anything of the sort; especially from a young woman. After pulling the phone out of her hand and knocking her papers to the floor, he announced to the rest of the office the importance of leaving home matters at home and if they couldn't, to get out then and there. Humiliated, the woman who had taken Kaiba's snide remarks for some time, stood up and yelled in his face. She wanted to make sure everyone knew that she was a hard worker and had been for the two years she'd worked for him and that the only reason he was treating her this way now was because he got dumped and turned into a sexist pig.

After firing the woman he went to get some air. As he was walking round, he stumbled across none-other than Yugi and Tea. Normally he would have ignored them, but he couldn't help but notice that, having been in deep conversation, they immediately stopped talking when they saw him and looked guiltily at him. After pressing them for answers they spilled the beans about having heard from Marik that Ishizu had just given birth to a healthy baby. The father, Marik wouldn't say, but they had their ideas. Kaiba forced them to tell him where Marik was and he was gone in an instant. Once he caught up with Marik, things only proceeded to get worse.

"I'm not playing with you Marik." Kaiba grabbed Marik by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

"I can't tell you." Marik struggled to say.

"So you can tell Yugi that Ishizu had a healthy, beautiful baby but you can't tell me if it was full term."

"I can understand that you're concerned, but please, it's not something you need to get involved with."

"Marik…" Kaiba was struggling on something between ripping his head off and begging. "Tell me…. Something… anything… I deserve to know… something!"

Marik looked at him with a pained expression. This was something he'd been struggling to keep from him, and to be honest, Marik hated it. He sighed a deep breath and tried to think of the right thing to do. After a moments pause, Marik finally muttered to himself, "This better not come back and bite me in the ass." Reluctantly, Marik pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it out for Kaiba to take. "You can reach her here. It's the hospital room number."

Kaiba immediately released Marik and took the paper. Carefully, his eyes moved across the sequence of numbers as though he couldn't believe they were real. It almost seemed unrealistic that the woman he'd been unable to track for so long could be found at the end of these numbers. His fingers twitched in anticipation. He felt alive for the first time in a while. Kaiba was finally going to call her, and he couldn't wait to let her have it. It didn't even matter that she'd just given birth, he wanted her to be emotional. He wanted to make her cry. He wanted her to hurt. His eyes quickly moved over to Marik who was looking back at him nervously. For a second Kaiba felt guilty about his thoughts and sorry for him, but it faded just as quickly from the heat of his anger.

With the number in hand, Kaiba retreated to the confines of his home. Anxious to make the call, Kaiba made no side trips on the way to his office, not even to turn on the light. Once at his desk, Kaiba unfolded the paper, picked up the office phone, and began to punch in the numbers. For some reason beyond his control with each number he pressed, it became harder to press the next. The rush of getting back at Ishizu was leaving him and the fear of facing what was about to come was growing.

The matter became less about confronting the woman who had abandoned and humiliated him. Ishizu had just given birth! He had no reason to believe that it was not a full term baby and Ishizu had left six months ago. That meant that Ishizu was already three months pregnant when she left. That was more than enough time for her to know that she was pregnant. Kaiba's initial belief was of course that Ishizu had been unfaithful, gotten pregnant, and rather than face him, ran off. Maybe she was even with the bastard then. But as he started to make the call, another more disturbing thought came to mind. This call could be the first indication that he was now a father. The thought scared him to death but also angered him.

Lost in his thoughts, Kaiba almost didn't realize the phone was ringing on the other end until he heard a woman with a heavy accent on the other end.

"Hello?"

"I need to speak to Ishizu Ishtar." His voice didn't reveal any of the complex emotions he was feeling. This woman wasn't worth sounding angry for. As long as she didn't give him any problems, he was fine.

"I'm sorry. She is resting now"

"I don't care." Kaiba wasn't in the mood to argue with this unimportant woman. Not when Ishizu was right there.

"Yes well we do." The woman retorted, obviously upset by his comment. "This woman is tired an she needs to rest. Who are you anyway?" Just then a muffled second voice was audible in the background. "There's someone trying to talk to you but it doesn't sound like your brother." She said away from the mouth piece.

"Is that Ishizu? She doesn't sound like she's resting."

"Well she was trying to and she would be now if you'd let it go! Please call later! Later!"

"Fine!" Seto said through gritted teeth. "Well then just relay this message to her. Tell her Seto Kaiba wants to know why he wasn't invited to the baby shower."

On the other end the woman said something in Arabic away from the receiver. Then, everything went quiet. By now Kaiba's heart was racing. He was so close now. Ishizu knew he knew. Would she attempt to talk to him or would she run away again? The silence seemed to last forever. Finally, he heard a soft voice on the other end.

"Hello?" Ishizu's voice was weak from the effects of the sedatives, the effort of labor, and the fear that Kaiba's name had invoked in her.

"Hello Ishizu. It's been a while. How's life been treating you? Well I hope. My life's been just lovely, thanks for asking…"

"Seto."

"Save it!" Kaiba cut her off before she could say anything that could extinguish this heat that was fueling him. "I don't even know what to say to you. I can't even…" He was at a loss for words. He had gone over every possible thing he could say to her since the moment he got his hands on that paper, but now nothing seemed to come out except the one question he wanted to know most. "Is it mine?"

There was another pause.

"Answer me Ishizu!"

"You know it is Seto. I would never cheat on you."

"There seems to be a lot I don't know these days. I didn't know you were the kind of woman that would just pack up and leave without saying anything."

"I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

"Who says I was hurt? I could care less about you. You made a fool out of me, that's why I'm mad. No one makes a fool out of me you understand." Kaiba spat out defensively. There was yet another pause and Kaiba waited breathlessly for her to respond.

"You really don't care?" Ishizu's voice came out weaker than Kaiba had ever heard it. "How can you say that?"

"What? Did you expect that I would be holding my breath till you came back? You've gotta be kidding, right?"

Usually Ishizu wouldn't have taken his words so close to heart, but this instance was different than any other. She'd just been through 8 hours of labor. She was exhausted, her hormones were still going crazy and she was genuinely afraid. Even though Ishizu held back the urge to start crying it still came across in her voice.

"I missed you Seto."

This time it was Kaiba that paused. The anger he was holding was cooling down against his will. Kaiba took a second and forced his anger back by reminding himself of what he'd just been through, but his retort of "You're lying," wasn't nearly as harsh as he wanted it to come out. "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play but it's not gonna work. YOU left ME! I didn't make you go. If you didn't want to go you shouldn't have and if you wanted to come back you should have. Don't give me that crap."

"How was I supposed to come back like I was?"

"ON MY PLANE!" Kaiba shouted. "Unless it isn't mine, in which case I don't blame you for not coming back."

"I didn't cheat on you!"

"Than you hated me then. Was that it?"

"No! Seto, I love you. I always have." Ishizu was sounding desperate.

"Than you didn't want me near the kid. You thought I would be a bad influence."

"No!"

"Then what?"

"You weren't ready to be a father!" Ishizu finally shouted into the phone.

Kaiba was immediately caught off guard by her remark. He hadn't expected her to shout at him and he most definatley wasn't expecting her to say that of all things. Once he was able to fully process what she said, his shock turned into outrage. "How dare you? How dare you think that you could make that kind of judgment for me? Who gave you the right to decide for yourself if I was READY to take care of what's mine?"

"As a mother, I decided that it was in the best interest of you both to not have you involved just yet. You were doing too much to focus on a baby."

"SAYS WHO?"

"YOU! YOU SAID IT!!!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL—"

But that was all able was able to say. The loud exchange between he and Ishizu over the phone had caused a stir and the child in Ishizu's arms awoke loud and furious. Still rattled from her argument, it took Ishizu a few seconds to attempt to calm her newborn child but quickly moved to snap herself out of it and tend to putting the baby back to sleep. On the other end of the line, Kaiba was frozen. Although he understood for a while that Ishizu had birthed his child, he hadn't truly realized what had just happened. Kaiba was a father. He was hearing his child cry for the first time, and it was over a phone a thousand miles away. He was upset, not just because of what the past few months had put him through, but because he couldn't be there. Kaiba sank low into his desk chair and threw his arm over his eyes in a mixture of frustration, anger, disbelief, and to his own surprise, happiness. He was listening to his child; his first born. Eventually, the cries died down some as Ishizu began to nurse the baby and an emptiness began to fill Kaiba.

"What is it?" He asked delicately. As the cries faded, he was struggling for something more to hold on to.

"A boy." Ishizu replied just as delicately.

"A boy!" Kaiba half smiled. It was all sinking in. This was finally becoming real. "I have… a son." Kaiba hunched over his desk and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a son… and…" His heart began to pound faster. "What's his name?"

"His name is Jahi."

"Jahi…" Kaiba's heart was continuing to beat faster and faster. "Jahi what?"

For a while Ishizu didn't answer. On the other end, Kaiba could hear her holding back whimpers.

"Tell me! What is my son's name, Ishizu?" Kaiba began to raise his voice. "Jahi what?"

"Kaiba! His name is Jahi Kaiba."

The sudden thought that his first and only son had any other name than his had made him tense and instantly furious, but now hearing the name of his boy, he was flooded with relief. Having heard Jahi cry over the phone, Kaiba formed an instant connection to the newborn. His natural possessiveness was beginning to kick in. The child's name was Jahi Kaiba, not Jahi Ishtar. In his mind, Ishizu had no right to be there, holding and caring for his son without him. The longer these thoughts stayed in his mind, the more upset he became. Furiously, he rubbed his temples with his free hand and tried to calm himself enough to speak quietly to her.

"Here's what's going to happen Ishizu. Are you listening?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm going to send a plane to come and get you. You are going to gather all your things, and bring my son back to me, you understand?"

"Jahi's too young to travel."

"Fine, I'll give you a month, then I'm sending a boat."

"But…"

"Stop it, Ishizu! I don't care what you have to say. You've kept me from my son long enough."

Ishizu was noticeably shaken. "…I'm … sorry Seto. I just want what's best for our family."

"Whatever. Just be on the boat."

With that, Kaiba hung up the phone. He couldn't take talking to her anymore, he was too angry.

One month later, Ishizu descended the steps of Kaiba's boat as promised. Three of Kaiba's men followed her off, carrying her bags and baby supplies. Silently, Ishizu walked to the waiting limosine, carrying a large wicker basket. The driver opened the door and allowed her to ease down into the seat before closing the door.

Kaiba slowly took in the sight of her. Her long, black hair hung down low, framing her tan face and caressing her ample chest. Her skin still held in a glow from her pregnancy. There was no doubt that Ishizu looked more beautiful now than Kaiba had ever seen her. But, this vision was blurred by the heat Kaiba felt and was trying to contain within him. Had he vented, he could have gotten it all out of his system, but instead he kept it locked up and allowed it to fester.

"Nice tan Ishizu. You must have been able to soak up a lot of sun, huh?" Kaiba started abruptly before Ishizu had a chance to get situated. "Did you get some work done?" He couldn't help but reveal his surprise.

"What are you talking about Seto?" She asked once she was settled with the wicker basket beside her.

"You're breasts."

"Yes?"

"They're bigger than I remember."

"I didn't get implants! They're swollen! That happens during pregnancy. As for my "tan", that also happens during pregnancy, the pigment changes. Haven't you ever heard of pregnant women having a glow?"

"You had the baby a month ago."

"Well I'm getting back to normal, I had been a lot darker previously."

"You look good." Kaiba had been fighting back saying that for a while.

Ishizu was notably taken aback. "Thank you Seto." She tried to smile, but it came out weak. She was very worried that she'd completely misjudged Seto and had made a very big mistake in taking off. "Seto, I just want to apologize for not telling you what was going on, but I want to…"

"Where's the kid?" Kaiba quickly cut her off. He was trying hard to keep his anger inside and wasn't sure if he wanted to get into that conversation at that moment or possibly ever.

Ishizu took his cue and dropped the subject. Delicately, she removed the top from the wicker basket revealing the sleeping infant Jahi, fast asleep in his padded basket. He lay swaddled in off-white wrappings sleeping peacefully and unawares of his father now watching him. Without a word, Kaiba took hold of the basket handle and pulled it in closer to him. He never would have admitted it, but his first reaction was that the baby didn't look like him at all. It was a round little thing with a brown face and thick messy hair. Jahi, Kaiba figured, looked more like a black haired Marik.

"He really doesn't look like you at all when he's sleeping." Ishizu pointed out, noticing how hard Kaiba was searching for a resemblance. "He's far to peaceful looking. Here." Ishizu pulled out a picture from her sachel and handed it to Kaiba.

When Kaiba saw the picture it was as though he was punched in the stomach. The very first things he saw were the eyes. There was no mistaking those eyes. They were the same bright blue eyes he had, and had the same squared off shape of the lid, yet somehow they were less cold than his. In the picture, Jahi lays flat on his back and stares intently into camera.

"You and Jahi can stay in the guestroom until you figure out where it is you want to stay…"

"Seto, I want to stay with you, I want us to be a family!"

"Once you have a stable place we can work out…"

"Seto please! I'm sorry…"

"Lets not start this again. Jahi's asleep, do you want to wake him up?"

Kaiba's eyes hadn't left his boy's face since he saw the picture. His possessive nature was taking hold of him as he held on tighter to his anger. This was HIS child, and Ishizu had wronged him by trying to separate them. Now she was trying to join in a family portrait; featuring his son, his brother and himself, and in which she had no place. The presence of cruelty passed through him, and he couldn't help but grin. When he finally looked up at Ishizu, his eyes showed such menace that she couldn't help but whimper slightly in fear. She had never been so afraid of Kaiba; he only man she had ever loved, and still loved. Ishizu grabbed the basket and pulled it back over to her. As she did, Kaiba glared angrily but remained silent.

"Like I said. You and Jahi can stay in the guestroom. We'll just take things one day at a time from there. OK?"

But Ishizu didn't answer. She remained silent the entire car ride and for most of her stay at his place.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

_The next few minutes were proving to be painful to me and, it would also seem, to my father. We stood and watched in silence as each scene flashed before us, revealing the many awkward and intense exchanges between my parents during the first few months of my life. Finally we reached a pivotal moment, only a few hours before I had arrived. It would seem that after a month or so of living together, my father finally dropped the bomb that he had no intention of restarting a relationship with my mother and would instead, be fighting for custody of me. The lawyer my mother had managed to find, stood no chance against my father's high priced ones, especially when my mothers faith system and beliefs in the supernatural were used against her._

_With each scene, I resented my father more and more. But even in this scene, as I watched a counselor pry me from my screaming mothers arms, one thing softened me. My father finally seemed upset by the image, and mirrored a look of guilt and displeasure he tried to hide in the courtroom. _

_"Look, can we move on?" My father asked me. He was noticeably irritated by the scene. "I get it, I've been a jerk. What else is new? I'll admit that all this," he gestured to the scene around him "is not nearly as gratifying as I wanted it to be, but whatever. What's done is done."_

_Suddenly the scene changed again. We recognized the living room of our home and the image of my father descending the steps. We followed him with our eyes as he glided swiftly to the door and opened it. _

_Father looked taken aback at the site of mother entering the house, smiling meekly as she held a child's hand. It took me a moment to realize that the child was me, a little over a year old. _

_"Baba!" the child screamed in joy as he released mother's hand and waddled confidently into the house. His arms rose high to be received by father who quickly picked him up and forgot about him. _

_"You two have a good time?" he asked mother, her eyes focused on the little boy in his arms. _

_"What? Oh, yes! We always do, don't we Jahi?"_

_"Good. Well, Jahi, it's time to say Bye-bye to Mommy." He said, without a second thought._

_The child looked back and forth between his parents. "Bye-bye?"_

_"Yes honey, I have to go now. I promise I'll be back soon." My mother said, painfully._

_"No-o-o-o!" The child coughed out a sob. He immediately became unruly, no longer appreciating his father's hold on him._

_"Jahi, stop it!" Father snapped at the child. "Say goodbye to your mother, she can't stay again."_

_The child pouted, obviously distraught, but unable to do anything about it. "Bye-bye mama." He said, teary eyed._

_"Bye-bye Jahi." As mother backed away, she struggled to feign happiness for her son's sake, "I love you."_

_In the following few minutes, the only way I could describe what happened is, all hell broke loose. It began when Father shut the door. Immediately, my infant self threw the mother of all tantrums. The child kicked and screamed for his mother. Eventually father put him down and tried to leave him to his act, but the child followed him screaming angrily. When father failed to act to his liking, the child waddled back to the door and banged as hard as his little fists could. Still not getting the proper result, he waddled back to father and screamed angrily some more until it seemed father was ready to strangle him. _

_"What the hell Jahi? Why can't you just be happy with me?"_

_"MAMA!!!!!" _

_"FINE!" Father angrily went back to the door, where he seemed unsurprised to see mother still there. "Well come in. Just calm him down and get him in bed please." _

_Immediately, my younger self quit screaming, and beamed brightly. Mother wasted no time; speed walking through the living room, picking up her child, and cooing lightly in his ear as she walked him up to his room. In no time, she descended the steps again, this time without the child in her arms and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she emerged with a warm bottle and disappeared upstairs yet again. In the meantime, the image of father sat down on the couch looking stressed and angry._

_"You've gotta be kidding, right? You're showing me the future now?" Father looked at me exasperated. _

_"Well yours anyway." I replied. "This is just as much the past as everything else I showed you, as far as I'm concerned."_

_"Wow. So, you're trying to tell me that a year from now, I still won't be able to make you stop crying on my own, so I may as well get back with Ishizu, that it?"_

_"Possibly."_

_"What do you me 'possibly'?"_

_"When I died, I was told that you reached a point where you had to face your destiny…"_

_"Ah great! The destiny bullshit again! You'd think that if I raised you, you wouldn't believe in that crap."_

_"I didn't. Not when I was alive anyway. But whatever, that's not the point right now. The point is, you went against your gut. You know when you walked away from mom tonight that it was wrong. Somehow, you knew that being angry at her wasn't worth it anymore. You should have gone with your gut. What you're seeing my past, and your possible future." Just then mother walked back downstairs._

_"He's asleep now, Seto." Mother said, quietly as she made her way to the door._

_"Why? I don't get it." He said, half to himself._

_"What do you mean?" Mother stopped and looked at him confused._

_"Why does my son hate me?"_

_Mother looked and at him thunderstruck at first and then with a look of sad understanding. "Seto." She said, taking a step in his direction. "Jahi adores you." She took a few more steps in his direction, then gave a look as though to ask if it were alright to sit down with him. When father nodded approvingly she slid cozily next to him. "What would make you think he hates you?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe the fact that he was overjoyed to leave me to spend the day with you and cried bloody murder when you left and probably would have cursed me out if he knew how."_

_"That doesn't mean he hates you. We had a fun day, that's all."_

_"He does it every single time Ishizu! Every time he sees you, he cries for days after he comes home. This wasn't a one time thing, and it doesn't end once he finally gets up in the morning. He wakes up in the middle of the night and he doesn't call for me, hell he doesn't even call for his nanny, he calls for you. It's like he doesn't want anything to do with me."_

_"Believe me Seto, Jahi loves you a lot. He idolizes you. Every time I see him, he's acting a little more like you, he's speaking a little more like you, he's mimicking everything you do." Mother looked down and her hands and sighed. "But even still, Jahi's a bright little boy. He's extremely perceptive for his age. It's foolish of us to think he isn't picking up on the differences between us."_

_"Huh?"_

_"You're not a nurturer, Seto. You never were and you're not going to start anytime soon. I am!"_

_"Jahi doesn't like being coddled."_

_"Not by you. He doesn't expect you to fawn over him, but he knows that I will. And despite what you may think because of his intelligence, Jahi is still a baby. He likes attention, and hugs, and kisses and all of that."_

_"So you're saying if I give him ice-cream and kiss his boo-boo's, he'll like me." Father looked exasperated, like he was sorry he had talked to her in the first place._

_"No. I'm pretty sure if you started hugging and kissing him tomorrow, he'd be very confused and resist you. The damage has been done- both of us have attributed to it." Mother noticed the look on Father's face and placed a hand on his lap. "But the fact that he likes the "coddling" I give him, doesn't mean he doesn't love you too. He lives with you. You are the main influence in his life and it shows. He wants to be just like his daddy."_

_"Well that's not a particularly good thing."_

_"You're a good man Seto. You love and protect your family with a ferocity that I have experienced first hand."_

_"On both sides, too."_

_Mother gave a faint smile before looking up into father's eyes. Then her face changed into a painful one again. "I'm sorry for hurting you Seto. I really didn't want to. I loved you and I still do. I thought I was helping you by not burdening you with my pregnancy until you were ready."_

_"I know." Father said, looking off into the distance. I was shocked, and apparently so was mother. _

_"So why are you still doing this?" She clung to him desperately._

_"I don't really know. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I don't trust you. Other than that, I can only guess that it's pride."_

_"Pride? That's your only justification? Pride!" Mother said, looking at him incredulously. I watched, wishing I could do something to help her as she started to cry. She shoved him, but he hardly moved. She shoved him again, and again but he didn't seem to care at all. "I don't understand! Why would you do this to us? To Jahi. He needs both of us in his life, why won't you stop?"_

_When father refused to look at her, mother shoved him hard and demanded an answer. _

_"I am capable of raising my own son, despite what you think Ishizu. You can be mad at me all you want but nothing is going to change. Like you said, the damage has already been done."_

_At that moment, I could literally see, hear, and feel my mother's heart breaking. The woman who walked into Father's office years prior had grown weary and finally broken. The slight glimmer of her aqua green eyes dulled as the last of her hope seeped away into the deep, dark abyss of her despair. I felt a hitch in my throat. I was quickly realizing the extent to which Mother's emotions affected me. At the moment I wanted nothing more than to hold her, and protect her from any and all of her pain. I wanted to see the light return to her eyes. For a moment, I thought it had, but the single tear that fell from each eye dashed those hopes of mine away and stabbed me with a pain so deep, I would have rather fallen down those steps a million times than continue to watch her._

_Without another word, Mother stood up and took a few steps towards the door. "Well then, I guess that's that. I should get going…" but before she could take another step, Father was behind her with a hand on her shoulder._

_"Ishizu, wait." _

_"Yes, Seto? What do you want?"_

_There was silence for an unusually long time. They just stood there, Mother's eyes dead and Father's expression as unreadable as ever. Slowly, Father's hand inched off her shoulder, down her arm and coiled itself around her waist. The other hand followed allowing him to hold her in a light embrace. For a moment, I was hopeful that things would get better. Then I remembered that I already knew the ending of this story. I had lived it, and it made a silent rage grow inside me. _

_"Damn Ishizu, why'd you have to do this to me?" He whispered in her ear. I couldn't tell if she noticed. "I bared my soul to you. I shared things with you that I never shared with anyone but Mokuba. Why? Why'd you have to make me so mad at you? I don't want it to be like this." A shudder of disgust ran down my spine seeing Father nuzzle behind her ear so affectionately and then plant a few light kisses on the side of her face and down her neck. Still, she showed no signs of noticing. He pressed on, whispering, "I've missed you Ishizu."_

_The grip he had around her waist tightened, molding her flat against him. Finally, Mother showed some sign of awareness. Her face, initially etched with shock and embarrassment, grew hard with anger and disgust. It took me a moment to understand what was going on. My parents stared at each other, but the look in Father's eyes was something I hadn't seen before. However, the slight twitching movement of Father's fingers against Mother's waist tipped me off. My blood ran cold. He couldn't be serious. The look in his eyes, it was lust._

_"You know, I haven't been with a woman since you got on that plane and left for Egypt. It's been… it's been hard… really hard…"_

_"Seto, please!" Mother protested, trying to pull away, but Father seemed to have no intention of letting her get away._

_"If you were to stay tonight, we could spend the day together tomorrow. All three of us. What do you think?"_

_Mother's head shot up immediately. Her eyes damp with tears still held no traces of hope. They were empty, defeated orbs; shadows of their former self. "Promise me." She demanded._

_I recognized the smile that crept upon Father's face as one usually reserved for a victory over a cleverly weakened opponent. He turned her in his arms to face her, not bothering to hide the smile before nodding in approval. He leaned in to capture her lips in uncharacteristically soft kiss. _

_"Come on, let's go upstairs." _

_We watched Mother move towards the stairs as the scene faded into whiteness yet again. Deep in the pit of my stomach, I felt a mixture of pain, anger, disgust, and sorrow. Nothing in me wanted to believe that Father could stoop so low as to take advantage of a broken woman. I didn't want to think that Mother could so easily succumb. Even though I knew it would be unfair to do so, I desired with every fiber of my being, to take out my rage on the man standing beside me in the endless white. Once I finally believed I could look at him without doing anything to embarrass myself, I gave him a quick look to determine his reaction and how I should proceed. One quick look revealed that he'd been staring back at me, a look of contempt evident in his features._

_Before either of us could say anything, we were drowned out by the sound of familiar voices all around us._

"ISHIZU!!!! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?!?"

"I know, Marik, but please stop yelling. It won't solve anything."

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING? ISHIZU, YOU'RE TOO SMART TO BE SO STUPID!

"Master Marik, please, there's no need to be so harsh with Miss Ishizu."

"I know you're worried… I'm sorry for putting the two of you through this."

"WE'RE YOUR BROTHER'S, WE'LL BE HERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT… BUT DAMN IT, HOW COULD YOU GET PREGNANT AGAIN!!! AND WITH KAIBA NO LESS!!!"

"I know. I'm sorry"

"Just do yourself a favor and don't let him know its his… Ishizu? … ISHIZU? … DAMN YOU, ISHIZU! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? WHY WOULD YOU TELL HIM ITS HIS KID? WHY? YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD HIM IT WAS SOMEONE ELSES, OR YOU WERE ARTIFICALLY INSEMINATED! HELL, YOU COULDV'E TOLD HIM I MOLESTED YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!!! I DON'T CARE, YOU'D STILL HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF."

"He deserves to know the truth."

"WHY, SO THAT HE CAN TAKE THIS ONE AWAY FROM YOU TOO?"

"Master Marik, I think that's enough."

"IT'S THE TRUTH!!! AND SHE NEEDS TO HEAR IT!!!"

"Miss Ishizu? Are you alright…. Oh Miss, please don't cry, I'm sure Master Marik didn't mean it…. Please… stop crying…. Please…."


	7. Chapter 7

_**One thing of note in this chapter is the presence of Arabic. A few times you will hear someone say "our little girl, our Sagira". This is because Sagira in Arabic is the female form of little, in other words "little girl". **_

_**Warning: Sadness ahead!**_

Chapter Seven:

"Oh, Ishizu! She's beautiful!" Serenity squealed in delight. 

"I know!" Tea chimed in, leaning into the bundle in Ishizu's arms. "Hello Sagira! Aren't you the prettiest little thing!"? 

The tiny child beamed brightly at the group of faces that had surrounded her. Six-month old Sagira Kaiba was the polar opposite of what her brother had been. She was a very bouncy, very happy, and easily excitable baby; much to the dismay of her mother and uncles, who prayed for a solace at night that they never received. She was a brown, chubby, blue-eyed bundle of pure energy, and everyone around her could feel her warmth. Tonight, the child was especially excited. She had visitors! 

Tea, Serenity, Mai, and Tristan gathered around Ishizu, admiring and cooing at the infant girl. Tristan had initially tried to remain somewhat aloof like the other guys but failed miserably, running over immediately as soon as he first heard her babbling. Across the room; Yugi, Joey, and Bakura exchanged pleasantries with Marik. The gang had initially come over to Marik's place to hang out, but a majority of them stopped on the way in after seeing Ishizu about to head out with the baby. 

"It never occurred to me that you guys hadn't met our little girl, our Sagira." Marik remarked to the three boys as well as any of the others who may have been listening. "We've been so busy here, I guess it slipped our minds."

"She sure is a sweetheart!" Joey said, his eyes shifting between Marik and the baby.

"You know Joey, if you wanna go over and play with the baby, you can." Marik insisted, seeing how the guy was struggling not to focus so much on Ishizu's baby girl. He was failing miserably just as Tristan had.

"It's alright. There's enough people over there, suckin' up the kid's air. Plus, I'm sure ya sis wants to get goin'…"

"You can play with her for a minute if you want, its no problem at all." Ishizu interrupted. At this, Joey wasted no time racing over to the baby. 

Delighted to see a new face, Sagira's eyes lit up with joy. Everyone's hearts melted as they watched the little girl raise her tiny arms into the air to receive the eager blond boy. Everyone that is, except for Ishizu, who's face remained eerily joyless the entire time. However, most everyone contributed that to exhaustion or possibly a mild case of post partum depression. She watched with a distant gaze as Joey lifted the girl into the air and bounced her around. The room was filled with the infant's delighted squeals. Joey bounced her around for a little while longer before cradling her in one arm, while his other hand poked at her round belly. Sagira, obviously contented by his performance, smiled brightly and applauded him, clapping her hands together twice before placing both hands in her mouth.

"Look at you kiddo! Aren't you the cutest little daddy! You get much practice with that?" Mai teased.

"Nah, Mai, you know I ain't got no kids…" Joey beamed before his face went slack with thought, "not ta my knowledge, anyway." He pondered it for a moment but quickly brushed the thought aside. "But ya know, we could change that Mai." A mischievous grin etched his face.

"In your dreams lover boy."

"Ah well, can't say I didn't try." He directed his comment to Sagira, pushing her nose in with a finger. Sagira, whose fists were still snuggled in her mouth, giggled devilishly, the force of which caused drool to run down her arms. She removed her fists from her mouth and grabbed his hand forcefully, trying to take the finger into her mouth. "Ewww! Baby slobber!" Joey protested, but eventually gave up the knuckle of his pinky to her oral exploration. He'd heard somewhere that babies explored the world through their mouths, needing to taste something to get a grasp on it. He chuckled at the feel of her mouth on his knuckle. "Hard ta believe somethin' this cute could come from Kaiba-" 

Joey immediately stopped. Saying Kaiba's name was somewhat of a taboo around Marik. They all knew that Marik resented Kaiba for the pain he was putting his sister through. Marik never spoke his name, preferring to refer to him as "That Man", "Sagira and Jahi's Father" or "The Bastard". Adding to the sting was the fact that both children had "The Bastard's" name. This was a small detail he hoped to fix soon. Before Marik had a chance to remark, Ishizu intervened. 

"Yes, well you wouldn't think so, but Seto can be a big pushover when it comes to that little one. He's not always such a bastard, he has good qualities, and I daresay he can even be cute when he wants to." Ishizu said. Her face remained as deadpan as ever as she stood up and retrieved her child from the blond boy's arms. "Of course, not as cute as our little girl, our Sagira." She smiled slightly, but it was forced and Marik could tell. She stopped smiling a long time ago. "Speaking of which, we need to get going. We're going to visit Jahi and Baba, right Sagira?" Silently, Ishizu shifted the little girl in her arms and made her way back to the chair, grabbing her things. "It was so good being able to see all of you tonight."

"Yeah, we need to get together more often." Yugi said from across the room.

"Well feel free to come and play with Sagira anytime." Ishizu replied. She gave a nod to the visitors and headed out the door. 

Once settled in the car, Ishizu began the half hour ride to the Kaiba mansion. Years prior, Kaiba had announced his intentions to fight Ishizu for custody of Jahi. Until that point, she had been living with him there. When they first started sleeping together, the Kaiba mansion had seemed like a fairytale castle. She'd never been so pampered in her life. However, upon returning from Egypt with Jahi, the castle had become much less a fairytale and much more like a fortress, keeping her locked inside. The employees had become guards, watching her every movement, making sure she didn't try to disappear with Jahi. When Kaiba allowed it, she was finally able to leave, and retreated to Marik's apartment about half an hours car ride away. She'd been there ever since. 

In the backseat, Sagira babbled as always, content with herself and the world. Ishizu envied her little girl. She was always so happy. She loved everyone and everything, and it would seem that everyone loved her back. When she was happy, everyone else was happy. When she was upset, everyone else's hearts were broken. When she was gone, there was an empty void. She envied her child for her innocence, and her love, and her boundless joy. Ishizu could not relate to any of those feelings anymore. She herself was the only person she knew, who didn't react at all to her child's laugh. She didn't react to anything anymore. 

Ishizu was completely and utterly numb. She felt none of the joy or excitement during her second pregnancy as she had with her first. Rather than the fear, determination, longing, and eventual elation she felt while in labor with Jahi, Ishizu feigned passion for Marik's sake while in labor with Sagira, all the while feeling apathetic. Unfortunately, the only people who believed her act were people who didn't know her very well. People like Yugi and his friends. But Marik, Odion, Seto, and even Sagira could tell it was all a rouse. 

Lost in her own thoughts, Ishizu was shocked into reality after realizing that she was on the road just before the Kaiba estate. She turned into the path leading to the gate entrance, inching her way along until the familiar iron bars met her. Ishizu lowered her car window and leaned towards a white intercom inches from her car door. Lazily, she pushed the button and waited for a response. It took about 15 seconds to get a reply.

"You'd better be Ishizu. If you're not I'm gonna come out there and shoot you personally." An annoyed voice came through the intercom.

"Yes, it's me. Let us in, please."

The gate opened immediately and Ishizu was able to drive onto the grounds. After pulling into the driveway closest to the main door, Ishizu turned off her car engine, unbuckled Sagira from her child seat, grabbed her purse, baby bag, and emergency clothes, and walked up to the door. As she neared the entrance, the door opened, where Kaiba greeted her himself. 

That's when Sagira lost it. Recognizing the man at the door, the little girl writhed and shrieked unable to control her excitement. Tiny arms immediately shot out in order to be received by the stone faced CEO. As Ishizu walked through the doorway, Kaiba relieved the wiggling, giggling Sagira from her mother's arms and walked towards the den. 

Ishizu was on her way up the stairs when she finally spoke, "You sent everybody home for the night?" She didn't bother to turn around or stop her ascent up the stairs as she asked.

"Yeah." He also didn't bother to turn his head or slow his pace towards the den as he answered. 

After the night of Sagira's conseption, communication between Kaiba and Ishizu all but ceased to exist. When it was Ishizu's time to see Jahi, she would take him, bring him back, and leave promptly afterwards. When Ishizu became heavily pregnant, Kaiba was considerate enough to bring Jahi over to her and allow them their time together. Once Sagira was born, Ishizu would bring the baby with her when she came to visit Jahi. They would switch off children; Kaiba would take Sagira and Ishizu would go upstairs to see Jahi. Eventually, Ishizu would bring Jahi downstairs only so that she could watch the two siblings interact with each other. If anything disrupted this flow, causing Kaiba and Ishizu to interact, an argument would usually ensue, the result of which being an unplanned and unwanted sexual encounter. Communication led to arguing. Arguing led to sex. Therefore, communication was avoided at all costs. It was a horrible system, but it was the way their lives were shaping. 

Ishizu stood before her son's bedroom door. She still remembered opening this door for the first time and seeing a nursery that took her breath away. By now the nursery was gone, but the room still felt the same every time she came in. There was an aura that drew her in and made her feel at peace. This was her room too, or so if felt. Ishizu opened the door and poked her head inside and was greeted with her child's scent. The room was still painted in shades of blue and white. She noticed a new addition was a mural of the legendary dragon on the far wall.

She couldn't help but be astounded at the transformation of her little boy. Even in his pure white, footy pajamas, he looked like a mature man in a baby's body, and the mature man was Kaiba.

In a corner of the room, Jahi sat at a model of his father's desk, staring intently at one of his picture books. Upon closer inspection, one would find that many of his picture books were actually duel strategy magazines and sketch books that Kaiba corp. card artists used for future card designs. No one at the Kaiba Corporation would ever believe that their CEO would allow a two-year old to look at such important things, much less that many of their most popular card designs had been picked out by that two-year old. 

Three words would always come to mind when Ishizu saw her son: Tan Kaiba Chibi. There was no other way to describe him. Granted, his hair was black like hers, and thick like Marik's, but it was brushed back as much as possible; an attempt to tame the wild. The result was a straight look in the back of his head with wild bangs in the front. That and his tan skin were the only deviations to his father's appearance. Everything from his face to the way he held his body was like that of Kaiba. 

She stopped admiring long enough to begin her ritual contact with the studious toddler.

"Marhaba, Jahi!" _**(Hi Jahi)**_ Ishizu called out.

Jahi looked up a little surprised at first and then smiled. He quickly stood up and moved towards his mother, his arms open wide to receive her. "Mama! Konichiwa!" _**(Hello)**_ He replied, hugging her legs. Ishizu kneeled down and hugged her son tightly.

"Ibney, kayfa haluca?" _**(My son, how are you)**_

"Genki desu." _**(I'm fine)**_

"Al hamdu lillah!" _**(Praise be to God a very common Arabic phrase)**_ Ishizu picked up her son and sat down on the bed. She enjoyed the multi-lingual chats she held with her son. In all honesty, she would prefer to speak to him in her native language rather than in Arabic, but the idea that there was a language that only Jahi and the Ishtars would understand made Kaiba uncomfortable and led to many arguments. Ishizu eventually gave up trying to teach it to Jahi and spoke in Arabic, the current language of Egypt, instead. In that way, she could still speak to Jahi in her own way, but it was not a language that would be impossible for Kaiba to learn.

As the two continued their dialogue, Ishizu gazed over her son's face and felt a painful longing. She wanted to stay like this, forever with her boy. 

Meanwhile, Kaiba tickled Sagira's round stomach, enjoying the sound of her giggling. For both father and daughter, this was a peaceful time, never to be disturbed by outside influence. Like many others, Seto Kaiba had fallen under the little girl's spell. Waiting for the girl's mother was proving to be tiresome, but the moment he saw his daughter, his possessiveness kicked into overdrive and his immediate instinct was to pluck the girl from Ishizu's arms. Sagira had become, Kaiba's drug of choice and he was fighting the urge to take her all for himself like he had with Jahi.

"You know what would make your mommy angry? You should say 'daddy' first. You love daddy more don't you?" He poked her belly and smiled. "Then you should say 'daddy' first. That way mom will get angry, and mommy and daddy can have more angry sex! Isn't that good?" He asked with a horribly malicious smile on his face. However, as always, Sagira recognized her father's evil face as something familiar and fun and laughed a wickedly devilish laugh of her own. "So I don't care how you say it. 'Dada', 'Daddy', 'Papa', "Otosan', 'Tochan', or whatever it is Ishizu calls it, 'Baba', whatever language it is, make sure you refer to me first, you understand?"

"Buh buh buh buh…."

"Almost."

Sagira started to cackle wildly, a noise she only made in her father's presence. Whenever Kaiba heard that cackle he would get an image in his head. The image was that of a grown up Sagira with a handful of rare and powerful duel monster cards, standing victoriously over some unnamed loser as she cackled. In his mind, Jahi seemed like he would develop more into the staunch businessman. But Sagira, he believed in his heart would be the duelist in the family. He wasn't sure why, but something told him whenever he saw his little girl that she was going to be the next 'King of Games' and that she would enjoy every minute of it. It made him swell with pride for no reason.

Their peace was disturbed by the familiar sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs. Kaiba looked up at the clock.

"Dammit!" he muttered, realizing how much time had passed. At that moment, Ishizu and Jahi walked hand in hand into the den. The time had come for the siblings to see each other. Grumpily, Kaiba stood and picked Sagira's baby seat up from off the floor. While he fastened her in to the seat, Ishizu walked over to a chest in the corner of the room and pulled out a few large toys for the kids to play with. 

"I hope you don't always talk to Sagira with that angry face, you'll scare her." Ishizu couldn't help remarking as she handed Jahi a large ball.

"Well I've been a bit agitated tonight. I let the staff go early so they wouldn't annoy me when Sagira came, but then all these people kept buzzing in at the gate for no reason asking for directions and for people who don't live here, so by the time you finally showed up HALF AN HOUR LATE, I was ready to shoot the next person who rang in at the gate. I feel much better now though. What about you Ishizu? You're looking as emotionless as ever."

Dead lithe less orbs met cold sharp ones. They stared intently at each other, each person thinking their own private thoughts. Both the Kaiba children seemed interested in the stare down focusing their gazes from one parent to the other. Suddenly, Sagira made a loud angry wailing noise as though mad that nobody was focusing on her. Brought back to reality by his daughter's wail, Kaiba turned his attention to Jahi.

"Come on Jahi, say hello to your sister, she wants to play with you."

"I don't want to play with her! She's too loud! She hurts my ears on purpose! I don't like her!"

"JAHI!"

"Jahi, please." Ishizu intervened. She leaned down and whispered sweetly in his ear. "Try to be nice to your little sister. I know she's noisy but it's only because she has fun playing with you. Please be a good boy for your mama?"

"Ok." He reluctantly agreed. Slouch shouldered, the toddler shuffled over to greet his infant sister, all the while, purposely ignoring his father's glare. "Hi. Ana AhkKoum. Tetetheckereen, Sagira?" _**(I'm your brother. You remember, Sagira)**_ He leaned in to her face and asked.

"JAI! JAI! JAI!" Sagira squealed in delight, pulling her older brother closer to her face by his ears. Unable to pull away in time, Jahi was forced to endure a slobber-laden kiss to the center of his face. 

"MAMA!" Jahi screamed in protest, tearing away from the baby. Face warped in anger, he ran back to the bosom of his mother, who had not even managed to get off the floor before he retreated back to her. "SHE PULLED MY EARS AND SPIT ON ME! LA AHED HIYA! LA AHED HIYA! _**(I don't like her)**_ Meanwhile, the startled 

Sagira, having just had someone scream right in her face, replaced her wide happy smile with a frightened wail.

Before Ishizu could respond to Jahi's distress, he was pulled forcibly away from the chest that sheltered him. Kaiba only knew enough Arabic to know that Jahi had said something mean about his sister. That was bad enough. But Jahi had managed to make the eternally happy Sagira start crying. 

"What's the matter with you? You made Sagira cry. Apologize to your sister!"

"She's mean!"

"She tried to give you a kiss. Now apologize to her. And quit that crying, you're not a baby anymore!"

Jahi shivered and at that moment, Ishizu realized how deep the act was that her son put on. Somehow, Ishizu felt that when in her presence, Jahi acted in a way that was most true to his nature. But seeing him now, cowering in front of his father, the true feelings of fear revealed a vulnerability she had never seen before. It made her heart ache. 

"Seto, stop yelling at him!" She yelled, angrily.

"Why don't you stop coddling him? The only reason he's acting this way is because he thinks he can get away with it when you're here!" He yelled back, his temper rising. 

"BBBBBBBBBB!" The raspberry-like sound suddenly erupted from the crying infant's mouth. She continued to make the noise while feverously seeking the grasp of her father. Kaiba let go of Jahi and walked over to his insistent second born. Jahi made no more noise, but simply dug his feet shamefully into the floor. Ishizu was distracted by her son's quick revert back into the mature looking child she had seen upon entering the house. The only noise left in the room was that of Sagira crying. 

Ishizu finally took her eyes off Jahi and looked at Kaiba and Sagira. The terrifying man that was present a moment ago had faded away into this much gentler 'daddy' figure as he held the tiny girl. Even from her distance she could tell that Sagira was shaking and that Kaiba was whispering soothing things to her. As though splashed with cold water, Ishizu was hit with a startling realization. Her child had not called out for her. Ishizu knew that Sagira loved her father. She loved everyone she met. But he fact remained that Sagira was upset and looking for comfort, and rather than reach out for her mother, she reached out to a man she only sees once every few weeks. 

She continued to watch, feeling more and more out of place as Jahi, at his father's request, sat down next to him on the couch. They looked like a little family, one in which she could not find a place. Jahi had already calmed down without her help and Sagira preferred to be soothed by a father she hardly sees. She felt something in her twang in pain and attempted to walk out of the room.

"Where do you think you're going, Ishizu? You sit down too!" Kaiba stopped her attempted departure. Without much else, Kaiba focused his attention back to Jahi. "Now look Jahi. You see how Sagira is crying now?" Jahi nodded. "You did that! It's your fault she's crying. Now stop trying to get sympathy. That may work with your mom but it won't work with me. Sagira is your baby sister, and you're her big brother. Big brother's don't make their little brothers or sisters cry. Now, make up with her." He concluded, sitting the crying baby into her big brother's lap. 

The tiny child suddenly looked very big when sat on Jahi's lap. She continued to wiggle and whimper, but the change in holders caught her interest and they slowed down considerably. Ishizu eased onto the far edge of the couch, all the while focusing on the pair of Kaiba siblings. She could see the awkward look on Jahi's face. He did little to hide his confusion and annoyance. However, the resulting facial expression was close enough to something their father would make to warrant a smile and quick change in Sagira's attitude. Eager to feel the facial expression, Sagira reached out and grabbed Jahi's face. Her open mouth was literally salivating as she laughed. Jahi was obviously annoyed by the poking, prodding fingers in his face, but being so close to his father, did little more than grunt in annoyance while the baby girl had her fun. 

The rest of the night was peaceful. Jahi and Sagira got along well enough to start playing with a few of the toys until, without any proper warning, Sagira fell asleep. Jahi, not wanting to be outdone by the sudden departure into unconsciousness, promptly lay down next to her on the floor and forced himself to sleep as well. The act was so sudden that it took Kaiba and Ishizu a while to notice what had happened. 

Instinctually, Kaiba prepared to pick up Jahi and Ishizu prepared to pick up Sagira. However, at that moment, a common thought passed through their heads. A quick glance at each other was all it took. Ishizu and Kaiba traded places and picked up the other child. Silently, Kaiba led Ishizu up the stairs, and into the new nursery he made for Sagira. Unlike Jahi's nursery, Sagira's room was much more festive, with lots of bright colors and plushy toys. Things that remained the same were little details like the hand stuffed pads on the rocking chair, the diamond studded pacifiers, and the holographic mobile above her crib. 

"I'm going to put Jahi to bed." Ishizu whispered. Kaiba looked over and nodded. When he noticed Jahi, a slick grin came across his face and he chuckled. 

"Someone's got the right idea." He replied, pointing to Jahi. Ishizu looked down and realized what he thought was so funny. The sleeping boy was keeping a tight grip on Ishizu's left breast.

"Oh stop it!" Ishizu whispered in annoyance, but Kaiba kept chuckling as she left the room. Ishizu walked to Jahi's nursery, enjoying the smell and the atmosphere of the room before laying him down on the mattress of his bed. She looked at her boy in admiration. In his sleep, he still looked so intelligent but much more childlike than he did when he was awake. The words 'brown Kaiba chibi' popped into her head again and she smiled. Tonight, she had seen Kaiba look so loving and protective. Ishizu closed her eyes and remembered a time when he looked at her that way. Now the look was reserved for a baby that looked like her. She couldn't understand why, but something about that thought caused her pain. Ishizu kissed Jahi on the forehead and left the room. 

"You know, I've never seen what image that mobile plays." Ishizu said, from the doorway. When Kaiba looked over at her, she could swear that his eyes were shining against the darkness of the room. She felt chills of excitement run down her spine.

"I'll play it if you want. Come here." Ishizu walked over next to Kaiba and allowed his arm to wrap around her waist. Kaiba reached into the crib and pulled out a remote with only two buttons: on/off, and switch. He pointed the remote at the mobile overhead and pressed the on/off button. Immediately a hologram appeared below it. Ishizu was surprised to see a familiar duel being played out. It was Yugi Moto vs. Marik Ishtar in the Battle City Finals. 

"How did you get this?" Ishizu asked in amazement. 

"For insurance purposes, I recorded the matches. I turned the recordings into these holograms." Kaiba answered. He pressed the button a few more times before it stopped at an even more familiar duel. An image of Ishizu, covered head to toe took one side of the arena, while Kaiba stood confidently on the other side. Ishizu couldn't help but let out a painful smile. "This is her favorite, you know." Kaiba leaned in and whispered. 

Something in her heart was thudding uncomfortably. Nothing about this situation felt right to her. She couldn't stand being in this place anymore. With a lot of effort, Ishizu pulled away from the man she still loved, and whom she knew, still loved her. "I think it's time that I go."

"You don't have to go now." Kaiba insisted. 

"No, I can't stay here. Not this time."

"But Sagira's already asleep."

Ishizu looked over at the little girl sleeping peacefully in her crib. Even as she slept, she looked so happy and innocent. Something in Ishizu's stomach curled in disgust. Shocked by her own true feelings, Ishizu shook the feeling away.

"You can keep her here tonight. I'm going though." Kaiba couldn't help but be stunned by Ishizu's words.

"Are you serious? She can stay here with me?" Kaiba wanted to be sure he was understanding right. When Ishizu looked at him, she could see that his eyes were glowing, and something inside her hurt again.

"Yes. It's fine. That's if you don't mind watching her. She can get noisy at night."

"Whatever, that's ok."

"Well then, goodnight Seto."

"Goodnight." He replied, but by now his focus was only on Sagira. Without another word, Ishizu turned and walked out of Sagira's nursery, down the stairs, and out the door. 

The roads were calm enough as Ishizu drove back to Marik's apartment. It was a nice night, not too cold or anything. One could almost say it was a perfect night in May and the absence of Sagira bubbling in the backseat allowed Ishizu to clear her mind. "It really is quiet without Sagira." She thought aloud. "It's a bit lonely but it's nice. That girl really just makes noise to hear her own voice. I don't get it, Jahi wasn't like that. He was much less vocal, but we communicated on a much deeper level. I really don't understand that girl at all." Ishizu allowed the built up thoughts to flow freely from her mind. "Seto appears to understand her though. Maybe that's why…" Ishizu swerved away from a car she was about to rear end, which brought her out of her thoughts. 

Shaken up, she pulled over to the curb and set the car in 'park'. It was becoming dangerous to think and drive. Now able to relax, she continued to let her inner thoughts flow. "Still, when she was crying, why did she reach for him? I know she likes him, but I'm her mother. If it were Jahi, he'd come to me." She suddenly remembered what it was like before Sagira was born. She remembered how frustrated Kaiba was with Jahi. Was this how he felt? Ishizu told him that Jahi loved him but Kaiba always had this look as though he didn't quite believe it. Now that Sagira was in the picture, Ishizu could understand. It wasn't enough just to know that the child loved you, but she wanted there to be a connection, and it felt like there wasn't.

Ishizu needed air. Without much thought, she opened the door, stepped outside her car and started to walk. The brisk night air felt good against her skin as she walked. But the sensation was becoming muddled by her own dark thoughts. She kept remembering the loving way Kaiba looked at Sagira and how it made her stomach flip. "Why am I being like this? She's our daughter!" Even though Sagira was still very small, there was no doubt that she was going to take after her mother. Odion was the first to say that she looked the same way Ishizu did as a baby. This came as a relief to Marik, who always found it hard to look at Jahi. Ishizu tried to convince herself that it was a relief not to be reminded of Kaiba's face everyday, but it was not. Even though it hurt, secretly, she wanted another pair of those eyes to look lovingly at her. Sagira had his eyes, but it felt as though she gave her love so freely to everyone, that there was nothing special about it. Ishizu quickened her pace from a steady walk to a light jog.

"Seto… Seto, hasn't looked at me like that in such a long time…" Tears blurred her vision and streamed down her face as she ran. "He still loves me! I know he loves me! So why? Why will he look at her so lovingly, and not me?" By now, she was running full speed, the blinding tears had no chance to leave her eyes before the wind blew them away. She ran recklessly through grass and across streets, not caring where they led. She remembered the mobile above Sagira's crib and how it showed her and Kaiba's first duel. She remembered the meeting at the museum. She remembered when Marik loosing his mind was considered a simpler time in her life. She remembered her childhood and the stories about the Items her clan protected. "The Rod and the Necklace have always been housed together. While every other Item went off in different directions, the Rod and the Necklace have never parted. They were destined to stay together. I embody the wielder of the Necklace. Seto embodies the wielder of the Rod. So why? Why is he fighting destiny? Why did he keep pushing me away? Why me? He's choosing her over me! What's so great about her? I'm the one who kept loving you when people thought you were unlovable! I listened to you without judging! I'm the mother of your children! I GAVE you those children! Why do you only love Sagira, and use me? Why…"

Ishizu didn't notice the child until she tripped over her. She landed with a hard thud on the cement. Her left elbow took the brunt of the punishment. However, Ishizu didn't leave her daze until she heard crying. She turned to see a young girl of about three years, on the ground beside her. The black hair of her pigtails was frayed and wild and her bright green eyes sparkled with fresh tears. 

"YUE! YUE!" A slight brunette woman appeared and scooped the child up. "I told you not to run off like that! I'm so sorry Miss!" She apologized. The woman was out of breath, no doubt from looking furiously for her daughter in the dark. 

"It's fine really." Ishizu assured her.

"Mommy, my leg hurts!" The child whined. 

"Well let Mommy see it."

"YUE!"

"It's ok, I found her."

A tall dark haired man with bright green eyes ran up to them, looking even more out of breath. Upon seeing his wife and daughter, he leaned over clutching his heart in relief. "Yue, you can't run off like that, you almost gave Daddy a heart attack."

"I hurt my leg."

"It doesn't look like she scraped it at all, I think she'll be fine." The mother half whispered. The man nodded in response.

"Come here." He said taking the girl, "What happened to Daddy's big girl, huh?" The man raised his daughter high into the air and kissed the injured leg happily. At that, the girl stopped crying and looked at her leg with interest. "Does it still hurt?" He asked. The girl shook her head and smiled. "That's a good girl." He smiled back, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Thank you Daddy."

Ishizu looked in on the scene and thought about her own situation. Here was yet another depiction of the father/daughter bond. The mother had been the one to find her, pick her up and check for injuries. Suddenly, 'daddy' comes in and gets all the glory. Surely, the mother must feel the same way she does. However, when Ishizu looked over at the woman, she saw only relief on her face. 

"We're sorry about this. I hope everything is alright." The father said.

"Oh no, it's fine." Ishizu answered, still focused on the mother's happy face. "Have a good evening."

With that, Ishizu started to walk back in the direction of her car. Her thoughts were jumbled, but for some reason she felt ashamed of herself. She thought back to the family she had just seen. Like Sagira and Seto, the father and daughter appeared to have a very close bond. The little girl didn't react to her mother the way she did with her father, but it was not as though there was no love there. The bond between mother and daughter was simply different. That's why the mother wasn't upset. Why should she be upset? Her daughter was safe and everyone was happy. It would seem that these things are easier to see in other people than in one's own life. 

Ishizu reached a familiar street corner and stopped. Cars and trucks whipped by at top speeds. Normally, she would have wondered how she had managed to run so recklessly across this street without getting hit, but not this time. One thought, one belief was dominating her mind.

"I've been a horrible mother…" This one thought was pulsing in her brain with every beat of her heart. "Sagira is six-months-old, and I've never genuinely smiled at her." The image of her own false smiles stood in stark contrast to those of Yugi and his friends, the mother, and Seto. "I've done nothing but resent her since before she was born." She remembered the nights when Sagira would wake up and start making noise and she would leave her brothers to settle her down. Sagira was not like Jahi and she'd convinced herself that the girl was just trying to get attention. But Ishizu could now see that her daughter only craved attention because her mother gave her none. "How many times have I neglected to kiss her, or hold her, or cuddle with her, or play with her, or rock her to sleep when I should have?"

Tears began to stream down her face once again. She thought about Jahi's earlier behavior and Kaiba's reaction to it. "Has Jahi been noticing my disinterest in Sagira? Is that why he acts the way he does towards her? Have I really turned my children against each other?" Kaiba's words rang in her ears: _The only reason he's acting this way is because he thinks he can get away with it when you're here! _

"What am I doing here? What's the point? Seto would rather conquer and humiliate me than admit that he loves me, I've turned my son against my daughter, and I still resent her even though I know its not her fault!" Ishizu clenched her fists and bowed her head in shame. She choked back her sobs, not believing she deserved to let them out. She had no right to cry. "How can I ever face my children again?" Ishizu opened her eyes and looked into the headlights of an oncoming car. Within the blinding light of it's beams, she found her answer. 

"I can't…" The car kept coming at full speed, the green light allowing it the go ahead. Ishizu closed her eyes and didn't hesitate as her feet left the curb and she stepped into the street. "I don't deserve to face any of you anymore. I'm sorry…"

_**Sorry it took so long! Please, don't forget to review! **_


	8. Chapter 8

This is a shorted chapter in preparation for another long chapter focusing on Sagira

_**This is a shorted chapter in preparation for another long chapter focusing on Sagira. I'm sorry if it takes a while for chapter nine to be posted, I've got finals coming. Anyway, enjoy.**_

Chapter Eight:

_Mother was dead. I knew it would happen, but that didn't prepare me enough to actually see it with my own eyes. Growing up my father never hid the circumstances of my mother's death. They were vague, my father was never elaborate in his words, but I knew the most important detail. She had been hit by a car. When I saw her on the corner, I could feel her thoughts in excruciating detail, almost as though it were spoken word. I understood at that moment that mother wouldn't die tragically in an accident; she was going to take her own life. I knew this, and yet, despite the tears rolling down my face, I couldn't turn away. I saw her leap out just as the car was passing full speed. I saw the car make contact. I felt the crack of bones. I heard the thump of her body, first against the car and then against the pavement and then the screams of the driver, realizing what she'd done. I saw it all coming, and I felt the pain as though it were inflicted on my own body. A part of me was dying, but I couldn't turn away._

_Her death was not immediate though. Father and I looked on helplessly as spectators gathered around. The driver was a nervous wreck crying like a child. I actually felt bad for the woman. Mother's decision to step into the street was deliberate. The woman behind the wheel was just as much a victim as the woman lying on the floor. Eventually the ambulance came and rushed Mother to the hospital and the world around us started to morph._

_ I took the time to look at Father and see if any of this was affecting him as much as it was affecting me. On some level, I expected the cold heartless bastard to have no reaction. After all, he had set this into motion, and none of his behavior leading up to this point revealed that he truly cared about anyone other than himself. Although I was strangely unable to keep myself from watching the tragedy unfold, I still listened out for any gasp of horror and any sign of regret, fear, or concern in his voice. I heard none. So when I finally turned to face him, I expected to see a very calm and indifferent Seto Kaiba._

_ However, that is not what I saw. When I turned, I realized that Father was standing very stiffly. He wasn't moving at all. His stark white face revealed an expression of shock, confusion and horror. I can honestly say I was thunderstruck seeing him in that state. His mouth hung slightly agape, his pupils shrunk to pinpoint size, and I could swear he was shaking. _

_ "What kind of freak are you?" I was confused at his sudden response. _

_ "What are you talking about?"_

_ "Don't play games with me!" At that point, he turned and looked at me with such maliciousness that I froze. I could see the true extent of his anger on his face and it made by breath hitch in my throat. However, behind that anger was something else. My father wasn't angry, he was frightened._

_ "Father, please! This isn't a game! This is my past! These are the events that you and I will have to live through! None of this is a game for me!"_

_ "You're lying! What? Did you think that because MY parents were killed in a car accident that making me see her get hit by a car would be more effective? Is that what you thought?" Father was raving, his body shook in fear and rage. My eyes became wide in surprise. My father had never talked to me about the circumstances of his birth parent's death. I looked into those frightened eyes and softened for the first time since meeting him. Father was not a heartless man. The idea that he was directly or indirectly responsible for the death of someone close to him was a hard concept. _

_ "Father…"_

_ "Ishizu wouldn't do that. You understand, she wouldn't do something like that." He said, turning away from me, his head hanging low. "She's way too stubborn to do something like that. She'd never… purposely… not over something I did…" _

Seto Kaiba was a category five hurricane, destructive and fierce. Those hospital workers brave enough to attempt to settle him were quickly cast aside as though they were nothing more that gnats. He was furious, confused, frightened, and therefore, incredibly dangerous. 

It was by pure luck that Kaiba had received word of the accident at all. When he and Ishizu were living together, she had to fill out paperwork at the local hospital and had put down his name as an emergency contact. When Sagira was born, Marik wanted Ishizu to put down his name as the father so that he would have the rights to her guardianship. He also wanted Kaiba removed as an emergency contact. However, Ishizu was half conscious when he made this argument and forgot it, later alerting Kaiba to the fact that he needed to sign Sagira's birth certificate and completely forgetting about the contact information. It was only because of this that Kaiba received a telephone call in the middle of the night alerting him that his 'live-in girlfriend' had been hit by a car and was in the emergency room.

By the time Kaiba arrived, Marik and Odion were already there, arguing with nurses and hospital administrators. Marik alone was causing the hospital more than enough problems and he was close to being thrown out. Still, Marik remained firmly rooted to the ground and refused to move until he was allowed to see his sister. Kaiba was not concerned about Marik. He'd managed to get Ishizu's location out of a scared nurse and was looking for the room on his own. Behind him was a flock of panicky nurses and doctors trying to tell him all the reasons he shouldn't see her right now. 

Ishizu was no longer in the emergency room but was still under close observation. Her condition was severe and from what he'd managed to get out, there was a possibility of irreversible brain damage. No one would know until she woke up. That is, if she managed to wake up at all or if her body would give out before she came to. He understood the diagnosis was bleak but that didn't mean he had to accept it. Ishizu was stubborn. She wouldn't just die because a car hit her. It's not possible. And what's more, for her to have intentionally walked in the path of that car, it was beyond impossible. Kaiba walked past the Ishtars and headed for the observation room he believed held Ishizu.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here? You have no right to be here, Kaiba!" Marik yelled as Kaiba walked past.

"Can it!" He was in no mood to fight with the guy now.

"Sir, I'm sorry but we're not allowing visitors yet." The man Marik was arguing with said sternly. "Like I've said to this young man here, I'll need to ask you to wait patiently otherwise we'll have to escort you out."

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to? Just try kicking me out of here! I'll buy out this damn hospital and turn it into a parking lot you insignificant maggot!"

Before the once stern hospital official had time to properly cower in fear before the great intimidating presence of Seto Kaiba, a nurse emerged from Ishizu's room.

"She's opened her eyes. We'll allow her next of kin to see her now." Kaiba made a move to the door but was stopped by the young nurse. "Excuse me, what is your relationship with the patient? Are you her husband?"

"I'm…"

"The sperm donor." Marik snipped bitterly as he and his brother passed Kaiba. "And like I said, you have no right to be here."

Kaiba grit his teeth and was about to retort when the door closed in his face. "Damn it!" he hissed under his breath. Kaiba shoved his hands in his pockets and began to pace furiously kicking random objects as he walked. "He's got a lot of nerve! That nut job! Who the hell does he think he is, telling me I have no right to be here? I'm her fucking….I'm her…" Kaiba stopped pacing and shouted at the door. "I'm the father of her fucking kids! That counts for something!" He felt an uncomfortable lump form in his throat and he cursed himself for how worked up he was getting.

"You know, I can't stand you!" Marik suddenly emerged from the door, Odion by his side. Both had tears running down their faces. "You're so inconsiderate! My sister is in pain right now and you're shouting outside the door, stressing her out! You're lucky she asked for you… bastard!" With that, Marik stomped away from the door and dropped on to a bench across the hall. He doubled over and put his hands on top of his head, shielding his face as he sobbed miserably. Odion attempted to comfort him, but Marik shook him away violently.

Seeing this reaction, Kaiba panicked and reconsidered whether he should go inside. As he thought it over, he heard a soft voice call out to him. Kaiba turned and finally saw Ishizu lying in the hospital bed. Deep in his heart, he was crying just as Marik was, but pride would not allow him to shed those tears outside. That's what he told himself. He was determined not to let them out over something as silly as this. Ishizu was going to be fine, he told himself. But still, as he closed the door gently behind him and approached her bedside, he wasn't so sure about that anymore. 

The least of the Egyptian beauty's worries were the scrapes that covered her face. Her head was wrapped generously in gauze to cover the stitching and incisions in her head. Glass from the street had managed to lodge into the back of her head upon impact with the ground and the doctors were not yet sure of what kind of damage would result from that. Her right hand was crushed beyond repair because the car stopped with her hand still underneath the wheel of the car. The impact of the car itself had ruptured a few organs and cracked her spine. If she did live through this, an unlikely possibility, she would probably be unable to move her legs or sit up properly. Kaiba couldn't even count the number of wires that were coming in and out of her body. He hadn't been prepared for this.

"Seto." A weak voice called out.

"Ishizu." Kaiba struggled to answer. "What the hell were you thinking, getting hit by a car?!" Unable to think of any way to voice his concern, he started yelling at her. "Damn it, Ishizu, you look like shit! I knew you were nuts but I didn't think you could be this deeply disturbed; must have been all those centuries of inbreeding in that tomb…"

"Seto, I'm sorry."

Kaiba looked at the injured woman in exasperation. "What are you talking about you crazy bitch? You were hit by a car, you're not the one who needs to be apologizing."

"I was so bad to our daughter. I was jealous and cold towards her. I just wanted you to look at me the way you look at her. I stepped in front of the car on purpose. I'm sorry."

"So you really jumped in front of the car?" Kaiba was struggling to understand what Ishizu was trying to say. The choppy sentences were probably due to her brain damage. "What the hell Ishizu? What is jumping in front of a car supposed to fix? If you're sorry you go and apologize, you don't jump in front of a fucking car you delusional nut job!" Ishizu managed to smile a genuinely happy smile. "What the hell are you smiling about?!"

"It's been so long since you yelled at me with so much love and concern. I miss your eyes. I love you so much. Please take care of our children."

Kaiba kneeled down on the floor beside her and grabbed her uninjured hand. "Quit talking like you're going to die! You're going to be fine." Frustrated tears begged for freedom, but Kaiba would not allow it. He fought with every fiber of his being. To allow it would mean accepting defeat, and Kaiba was not ready to do that. 

"The Necklace and the Rod have always been housed together."

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean but ok, just rest now."

"Why did you keep pushing me away?"

"I promise I won't push you away anymore."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"I know. I'm an idiot."

"I just wanted us to be a family."

"Fine! We'll all move in together, I can wheel you down the aisle, we'll be a family. Just stop talking like it's over." Kaiba wasn't sure how much of this he could take. He kept telling himself that everything was going to be ok. That the fact that she was awake and talking, and mostly making sense was a very good sign. But somewhere he knew that this was too optimistic. He knew it, and the look in Ishizu's eyes revealed that she knew it too. Guilt was pulsing through every fiber of his being, pulsing, pulsing, pulsing until he couldn't take anymore. Without warning, Kaiba broke down in silent tears.

"This is all my fault… I'm sorry Ishizu. You don't have to hurt anymore, I understand. Whatever was wrong, I'll fix it, okay?" He sounded weak and desperate. The tears he was trying to suppress dampened her delicate hand. She looked at him sadly, pitying him for the first time ever. She moved her hand and brushed it against his cheek before wiping a few of his tears away.

"No." She said softly, as though speaking to a small child. "The damage has been done. Both of us have contributed to it."

"Will you quit talking like you're on your death bed already!" Kaiba looked up at her angrily. "Don't forget that you still have children to raise. I swear, I'll never forgive you if you make me raise those kids on my own. You see how weird Jahi is turning out, don't you? Do you really trust me to raise two kids into normal people?"

"Shhh!" She smiled. 

"Don't shush me!" He replied bitterly. 

"You're not talking like Seto Kaiba. I'm getting tired." She said giving his hand a squeeze. Kaiba took a minute to collect himself. He really wasn't acting the way he normally did. He was yelling and crying and panicking. He couldn't even recognize himself anymore. But something had stopped working right when he heard about Ishizu's accident. Ishizu was important to him, and it was frustrating to think that this is what it took for him to realize how much. Nevertheless, he was attempting to calm himself and regain some dignity.

"If you're tired, then you should get some rest." Kaiba stood up but Ishizu held on to his hand tightly. "Concentrate on getting better, for everyone's sake." He added, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"Seto, you do love me, don't you?"

"Would I be here, making myself look like I damn idiot if I didn't." He answered, looking towards the door.

"Tell me!" She tugged his hand desperately. Her lack of strength scared Kaiba more than he would ever let on. He wanted to assure her, but the words were caught in his throat. Instead, Kaiba leaned over and kissed her delicately on the forehead. His lips trailed down to the tip of her nose, planting a small sweet kiss there as well, before finally meeting her lips. Kaiba took care to make sure he wasn't being too aggressive while still expressing his feelings. Her mouth was warm and inviting, but like every other part of her body, felt fragile. His heart ached as he kissed her. He felt like her lips could break against his at any moment. He pulled his mouth away from hers, happy to hear slight groan in protest. 

"Everything is going to be fine." He tried to assure her. Ishizu simply smiled. "I'll come back tomorrow." Kaiba turned and walked towards the door.

"Seto!" She managed to call out before he left. Kaiba turned and looked to see what she wanted. "I'm sorry… for everything I've contributed. You're wrong but still, you're right. I've seen it. The second time around, things will be better. It's destiny. We are the Rod and Necklace. Never separated. That's why I'll always love you."

Kaiba nodded and waved goodbye to Ishizu for the last time. Ishizu waved back with a right hand that was no longer there. His heart lurched. The pulsing guilt hadn't gone away, it was only getting stronger: It's all your fault, It's all your fault, It's all your fault!

_By the time my father had returned to his house, he received the phone call. The ruptured organs had started to bleed out and wouldn't stop no matter what they tried. Father buried himself in work and refused to acknowledge anything was wrong up until the funeral. At that time, Uncle Marik had no choice but to hand Sagira over to my father. The funeral was simple and elegant, just as mother had been. The only disturbance came from my younger self, fast approaching three-years old, who refused to believe that his mother would not wake up for him. _

_ Father stood by my side the whole time, never moving. His face remained as white and disbelieving as when Mother was first hit by the car. _

_On May 14th Mother stepped in the path of a speeding car. She was rushed to the hospital and operated on by some of the best doctors in the region. Having lost her right hand, cracked her spine, suffered significant blows to the head resulting in irreversible brain damage, and ruptured many of her inner organs, Mother managed to awaken and speak to her brothers and the man she loved. In their last conversation, Mother and Father comforted, laughed, smiled, kissed and loved each other. Mother didn't believe she would pull through. Mother didn't want to pull through. But at the end of the night, Mother believed that things would be better the second time around, and I wanted to give that to her more than ever. _

_The night ended._

_By May 15th Mother was dead. _

_**Read and Review.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Sorry it took so long everybody. Here is the long awaited ninth chapter. This one was especially hard to write. Hopefully the last few chapters will come a little quicker. Enjoy!**_

Chapter Nine:

'_You truly are your father's son…'_

_No one knew how much that one phrase haunted my life. For as far back as I can remember, I strived to be just like my father. He was my ideal. He was the quintessence of what it was I wanted to become. My father was a self-made billionaire. He was a CEO by age twelve, lost his virginity by thirteen, a force to be reckoned with by fourteen, a dueling idol by fifteen, a dueling legend by sixteen, created a kingdom for duelists and an amusement park by seventeen, living the high life with his lover by eighteen, and was a father by nineteen. My father struggled all his life and always managed to come out on top by using his brain and always thinking two steps ahead._

_This was the Seto Kaiba I knew as a child. A cold harsh businessman who was passionate about his work. His dedication to his family and his company was both awesome and terrifying. I loved him, and yet, I was frightened of him all at once. He commanded respect and I followed him every step of the way. I wanted to be an image of my father. I worked hard and was blessed with natural talent. I excelled in school and finished with my formal education by fifteen. I wanted to work with my father. I, of course, had to start at the very bottom and work my way up the ranks. _

_They were the most boring four months of my life!_

_It was worth it, when big wigs in the company would say the phrase I wanted so desperately to hear; 'You are truly your father's son'. Admirers saw all the traits they loved about my father, in me, and it assured me that my hard work was not in vain. Everyone could see it. No one ever mistook me for anything other than a Kaiba. But this blessing was also a curse. _

_Many people hated my father. Those same men who praised me, didn't really like him as a person. Even those few who considered themselves his 'friends' didn't like him much. I remember bumping in to some of those friends while collecting survey data at a Kaiba corp. sponsored event. A voice yelled out, 'Gah, it's Kaiba! Ya stuck up prick! What ya think ya too good ta talk to me or somethin'?' I turned to see a stupid looking blond man pointing obnoxiously at me as he yelled for no reason. Three equally blond and equally obnoxious looking children stood at his heals and urged him on. I'm not sure why but they reminded me of a pack of wild dogs. Eventually, the "pants" in the family, a tall blond woman, muzzled him by pointing out that I was not, in fact Seto Kaiba but his son. The man, apparently he knew me, turned red and apologized, smiling goofily. I made no move to return or even acknowledge his smile. I did not recognize this man who spoke to me so familiarly after speaking so ill of my father. He gave up smiling eventually and sucked his teeth before muttering, 'Yeah, you're definitely his kid! You inherited that shitty attitude!' The woman hit him and dragged him off, apologizing, but his words struck a cord. It wasn't the first time I'd felt that way either. Later, when I asked my father about the blond family, he told me not to worry about the mutt or the annoying harpy he married. _

_The event itself wouldn't have affected me as much had I not already felt that being 'my father's son' wasn't as great as I wished it could be. My uncles, the only links I had to my mother, always looked like they were in pain when they talked to me. For most of my life, I tried to pretend I didn't notice it. I pretended not to see Uncle Marik cringe when I looked him in the eye. However, I needed to confront him on it one day while he was venting his anger towards the man. He looked at me considerately and said, 'You can't help looking like him, but don't think that means you need to act like him.' I didn't appreciate his comment and didn't care to talk to him as much after that. Still the curse continued. _

_I modeled myself after my father, but that didn't mean I wanted to be in his shadow for the rest of my life. I wanted to make a name for myself. But whenever people saw me, whether it be good or bad, it all led back to me 'being his son'. I was constantly being compared to him. No matter what I did, I could not escape it. 'You truly are your father's son.' People said it when did well at school, when I moved up the ranks at work, when I looked at someone a certain way, when I made a quick remark, anything. I remember when I was sixteen and had worked my way up into head positions at Kaiba corp., I was approached by an attractive older woman. She introduced herself and congratulated me on getting my own office. That night, I lost my virginity to her in that very office. I felt happy and confident in myself. Then, she said it, 'You truly are your father's son'. She gave me her number and left. My sense of self-worth was gone. All I could think about was my first experience in sex and how the woman I'd shared it with had already been with my father. She was toying with me; seeing if I compared. Other women would follow, doing the same thing. It didn't matter though because everyone in my life did it. _

_What hurt the most was when my father would say it. Honestly, I wanted him to see the way I idolized him and acknowledge me for it. He did acknowledge me, just not in the way I wanted. Anytime he saw something as a flaw in my personality, he would grin and say, 'guess it can't be helped, you are my son after all' and turn away. Whenever I would loose my temper, he would laugh at me and mock me for being so much like him. All my life I'd absorbed both the positive and negative aspects of his personality and chose to idolize and respect all of them. To have that thrown back at me as an insult by the very man I modeled myself after, hurt like hell. I didn't blame him, though. I knew he couldn't help it. He didn't want a child like me; a child who was so much like him. _

_That's why Sagira had always been and always would be his favorite._

_After my mother's death, I continued to develop into a miniature version of my father. However the general consensus was that my mother had committed suicide by jumping in front of that car. It was not a topic of open discussion, but all the family and friends were thinking it. When they saw me, they saw the face of Seto Kaiba; the cold-hearted bastard who drove the only woman brave enough to love him to kill herself. Of course, around my sister and I, the story was that our mother was upset and went out for a walk when a car hit her by accident. Still, the uncanny resemblance didn't earn me many favors with the rest of the family. Sagira on the other hand, began to grow and took on the appearance of our mother. I was cast into the dark and Sagira became the golden child. Everyone loved her and I hated it. Not because I resented her, but because, I think, I loved her most of all. _

It must have happened when she first started to talk. Her Baba had always been kind and protective of her, but her brother never looked like he cared one way or the other. It wasn't until she started talking; not babbling or saying the basic words, but talking and thinking in complete sentences with more complex thoughts. That's when she knew that her brother loved her. He had to love her. He wouldn't yell at her and make her cry so much if he didn't love her. He wouldn't pull her hair and hide her toys and laugh when she attempted to reach high places if he didn't love her. He wouldn't say things like, 'You're annoying', 'Get away from me', 'You can't seriously be that stupid', 'I don't get why everyone likes you so much', 'You're not that special' or 'Touch my stuff one more time and I'll flush you down the toilet' if he didn't love her.

If Jahi didn't love her, he wouldn't have beat up the older kids who pushed her off the seesaw. He wouldn't have suffered through her never-ending stories of the adventures she had that day. He wouldn't have held her hand when they walked in public and made sure she didn't run up to strangers. He wouldn't take the blame for her wrong doings when he realized her cuteness wasn't enough to get away with it. He wouldn't stay up past his bedtime, retelling stories he'd heard about the mother that she apparently looked like, even though he knew he'd be scolded for staying up late.

Sagira loved her brother just as much as she loved her Baba. She expressed this by smiling as often as possible. By giving hugs and kisses to them whenever she could, especially when they thought they didn't want them. By drawing pictures for them and yelling when they were not properly displayed. She expressed her love for her father by fiddling with things he told her not to while he was working. Her Baba didn't look like he enjoyed typing on his laptop for hours, so as long as she messed with his stuff, he would have to talk to (or yell at) her instead, which was a much better option. She expressed her love for Jahi by keeping him busy. Sagira knew her brother was super smart and got bored of things easily, so she would set up scavenger hunts to entertain him. This usually consisted of taking things from his room and hiding them while he was at school. By the time Jahi got home, she would have forgotten where she put everything and together they'd try to figure out where toys, like his inhaler, had disappeared to. Often, they'd never find things. It was okay though because Jahi only got asthma attacks when Baba REALLY scared him. Sagira always found them entertaining.

What was never entertaining though, is what would sometimes come after. That was a time when the entire mansion would become quiet and Jahi and Baba would go to different sections of the house. She would always visit Jahi first. Usually, he would be hiding in her room. At first he would be angry. He'd say things like, 'It's all because Baba loves you more', 'He really does hate me', or 'I can't stand any of you'. As he vented, the pain would begin to show, and Sagira, sensing that pain, would start to cry on her brother's behalf. At that point, Jahi would say comforting things like, 'Don't cry baby', 'Thank you for being here for me' and most importantly 'As annoying as you are, sometimes I think you're the only one who loves me here.'

Later on she would see her Baba. Sagira could always tell when Baba wanted some attention. Usually, he would be sitting quietly in his office with his arms folded across his chest. She would open the door to his office and smile. If he smiled back and opened his arms to her, it meant that he was sad. She'd run into his arms and give him lots of hugs and kisses. To seal the deal she would look at him very seriously and ask, "What troubles you Seto Kaiba". That was usually enough to make him happy. He would start by telling her that she looks like her mother when she does that. He would talk to her about many things, only a fraction of which were things Sagira understood, but she always listened to everything he had to say.

There was a lot that Sagira didn't understand. She didn't understand why she needed to eat green beans. She didn't understand why people thought it was so amazing that she could play duel monsters or that her seven-year old brother was in seventh grade. She didn't understand why her Baba and her brother didn't get along; Jahi was convinced Baba hated him and Baba was confident Jahi resented him, but they loved each other so much. She didn't understand why everyone except her uncle Mokuba looked at Jahi like it hurt. She didn't understand why her mother wasn't there with them. She didn't understand any of these things. But that didn't matter. She would do what she could to make everybody smile.

That was the kind of child she was and that's the kind of person she was trying to be on the day of her accident.

Five-year old Sagira woke up to the familiar sounds of breakfast being prepared downstairs and the running water of Jahi's shower. She opened her eyes, her mind still in a deep haze from the peculiar dreams she'd been having. She debated with herself whether she wanted to stay in bed or get up and see what fun things were waiting downstairs.

A large thump came from the direction of the bathroom and startled Sagira into attention. "KUSO!" **(Shit) **She heard her brother shout out suddenly.

"JAHI!" Her Baba yelled from his room to which Jahi quickly apologized. Intrigued, Sagira pulled herself out of bed and shuffled over to the bathroom. She gave no warning before opening the bathroom door, and greeted her brother with a bright smile. Jahi, who had slipped in the tub, was still caught in the shower curtains, wet and totally naked. Sagira didn't seem to notice and continued to smile.

"Sagira! What are you doing? Get out of here! Nozoki! **(Peeping Tom)**

"Jahi said a bad word!"

"I don't care! Get out damn you!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Baba's angry voice echoed through the upstairs. Jahi stopped scared and hurried to detangle his foot from the shower curtain.

"I'm sorry, Baba." Jahi apologized. "Now I'm in trouble again! Get out! Bother someone else!" The naked Jahi grumbled vindictively while pushing her out of the bathroom. The door closed with a slam and abrupt turning of the lock. Sagira wasn't fazed too much by Jahi's outburst. He always acted that way when she walked in on him bathing, and had called her much worse things. Upon entering seventh grade, a whole new world of language and humor had opened up to him, and he was generous in sharing it with his sister when appropriate.

Sagira made her way down the marble steps carefully so as not to trigger another fall. The smell of breakfast filled her nostrils with a delicious sensation that made her mouth water. Excited, she scurried over to the kitchen. However, before she could push open the door, interference came in the form of a pair of solid female legs.

"Now young miss, you should know better than to annoy the cooks. Come on." The statuesque woman insisted, scooting her away from the door.

"But Mona!"

"None of that, none of that! Go on!"

Sagira liked Mona a lot. Although the thick bodied, rosy cheeked, dark haired woman stood in stark contrast to the tan beauty her mother was described to be, Sagira always figured that if she had a mother, she would be like Mona. She was a good woman with three adult children of her own, yet she still cared deeply for both Sagira and Jahi. She helped out with Jahi part-time when he was an infant and took over after their mother died. The only problem was that Mona and Baba didn't interact much. It was sad to Sagira, that they couldn't be friends. Her Baba was a good person, Sagira thought, so why did it feel like people were afraid of him.

True her Baba had a tendency to yell when he was annoyed, or say bad words, or hit things. It was true that during the times she watched her Baba duel, he could be viewed as smug, the way he grinned before a match, knowing he was going to win, or when the duel was unusually tough and the outcome became uncertain, how he would laugh mercilessly once he eventually won. Even though her Baba did do all those things, Sagira couldn't see any harm in it. She'd laugh along with her Baba from the sidelines. She'd jump for joy when a henchman was kicked out of the private chopper as it was leaving the ground, to give her more 'arm waving room'. She smiled happily when he finished a vindictive plan to get a weaker company out of business and boost his own profits. It was all entertaining and it was what made her Baba so much fun. Except when he hurt Jahi's feelings too much. That's when the game ended and she had to restore peace.

Heavy, authoritative footsteps signaled the approach of Baba. He made quite an impression in his all white business suit, his face unsmiling. Sagira wished she had her crayons, so that she could correct that problem. She'd add some color to that suit and brighten his day a little. Sadly, Jahi got mad at her the other day and hid them. The five-year old made a mental note to ask Mona to retrieve them once everyone was gone.

"Is breakfast still not ready?" Baba's annoyed voice echoed through the vast dining room. He scooped Sagira up and sat her on his lap once he had taken his place at the table.

"The cooks are running a little behind schedule but breakfast will be done momentarily sir." Mona answered apologetically from the kitchen.

"Whatever." Was Baba's disinterested reply. "Jahi! Come on, you're going to be late for school."

"Yes, Baba." Came a speedy response from the stairs. Jahi emerged in his crisply pressed blue school uniform. As Sagira watched her big brother, she couldn't help but think that he looked a little like a robot, his wild bangs being the only feature not stiff and perfectly straight. Jahi took his seat at the table and paused noticing the absence of a plate in front of him. "Is breakfast still not ready?" He asked Baba in an incredulous tone.

"Breakfast will be out in a few short moments young sir, please be patient." Mona's exasperated voice erupted yet again.

"But I'll be late!"

"Jahi can play with me instead!" Sagira cried out in excitement, disrupting the carefully set tie her Baba was wearing. He said nothing, bouncing her on his knee to distract her as he fixed it. "We'll have fun today. I want to watch Duel Monster Paradise with you like we did before."

"No, I'm going to school."

"Please, you won't even duel with me anymore! I want to play!" She complained.

"No Sagira!" Jahi barked in annoyance before turning to face the kitchen. "Isn't it ready yet?"

At that moment, Mona returned with a large tray holding three plates of western style breakfast; complete with pancakes, eggs, Canadian bacon and orange juice. Two small cups of tea were set out for Baba and Jahi and a single onigiri with a pickled plum in the center for little Sagira. Usually the little smiley face, made of bits of plum and prominently displayed, would be enough to make the young girl's morning, but she was too distracted by her hurt feelings. She didn't want Jahi to yell at her, she wanted him to play with her. Tears welled up in her bright blue eyes and wasted no time running down her pain stricken face. The trembling girl found solace in her Baba's large chest and held in a large sob.

Jahi knew he was in trouble before the tears even began to fall. This happened constantly. Sagira would do something obnoxious and somehow he would be the one yelled at. No one ever took his side and he didn't want anyone to. He didn't need anyone to pick him up and baby him the way they did Sagira. Oddly enough, the only person he could stomach touching him was the same person that he was constantly upsetting and getting him in trouble. Jahi couldn't stand Sagira, but at the same time he loved her ferociously because she was the only unshakable ally he had in the world. In the meantime, he had to be assaulted.

Baba did not disappoint.

"JAHI! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? YOU'RE CONSTANTLY DOING THIS TO HER."

"She was being obnoxious. I got frustrated, that's all." Jahi attempted to defend while poking at his food.

"SHE'S A BABY! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SHOUT AT HER? THERE'S NO REASON FOR YOU TO BEHAVE LIKE AN ASSHOLE!"

"Mr. Kaiba…" Mona tried to come to Jahi's defense, but no one paid any mind.

"You always say she's a baby. But she's five and is intelligent enough to be a primary student like I was at her age. She's fine, you just baby her." Jahi grumbled between bites of his pancakes. The fluffy, golden brown, morning treat did nothing to lighten his mood. Everything tasted bitter. Jahi knew that his remarks would earn him even more of an earful.

"What did you say?" Baba asked in a silent rage. He couldn't believe that he would hear back talk from his child.

"You always shout at me when I yell at Sagira. You say I shouldn't do it cause she's a baby. But you always yelled at me, even when I was her age." Jahi raised his eyes towards Baba defiantly as well as his voice. "Why should everyone bend over backwards to keep her happy all the time? I'm not even free to argue with my own sister, like she's some kind of Godsend or pure being I'm not allowed to touch. Why can't she learn to stand up for herself like I had to? What makes her so damn special!?"

"THAT'S IT! I WILL NOT…"

"Mr. Kaiba please! I think that's enough." Mona interjected before the children's Baba could finish his outrage. She held on to Jahi tightly from behind, fearing that the confrontation could become physical. The movement took both Baba and Jahi by surprise. Jahi, unaccustomed and not desiring to being held by anyone other than Sagira, fought against the embrace once the shock faded. However, Mona would not let him go. Instead, she held on tighter and planted a kiss on the side of his face. "It's alright young sir. I understand." She whispered into his ear before kissing him again.

He wasn't sure why, but Jahi was afraid if this went on much longer, he would start crying. Rescue came in the form of his Baba's voice. The rage had become quiet once more and was no longer directed towards him.

"Mona, you've worked here for a long time. You've known my children since infancy and cared for them. I understand your need to protect my children from harm since that is, in essence, what your job is; to protect them from malnutrition, from boredom, from negligence, and from bodily harm. However, your job is NOT and has NEVER been to be their mother! I don't care how long you've known them or what you think is best. Do what you're paid for instead of trying to become some kind of surrogate. They already have a mother! Now get your hands OFF MY SON!"

"I know I'm not his mother Mr. Kaiba! I never claimed I was!" Mona declared shocked, loosening her grip on the boy. Jahi took the opportunity to pull away completely. Mona looked at him once and then returned the gaze towards the children's Baba. "Ms. Ishtar died five years ago. When she was alive she loved and nurtured the young sir more than any other. I know that. But Mr. Kaiba, do you really feel so guilty about her death that you can't even bare to touch or let anyone else touch Ishizu's little boy? Do you honestly feel that loving him is off limits? That it was Ms. Ishizu's territory alone, and to show him even the slightest compassion is.. is… somehow IMPEDING on her territory?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He stood. By that time, Jahi had decided to tune out the conversation and focus on his meal, but Sagira was listening intently in her Baba's arms.

"Mr. Kaiba, the young sir is brilliant intellectually but he doesn't even know how to respond to a simple hug! A loving embrace! A kiss! He's seven-years old! What is that saying about his emotional development?"

"MONA!" He shouted suddenly. Sagira jumped slightly in his arms, to which her Baba quickly apologized before returning to the servant. "You've said enough. You've worked here for a long time and Sagira likes you so I'll let this go for now. But the next time ANYTHING happens, you're gone. You understand?"

Mona forcibly held her tongue. If she was fired, she couldn't save those children. She nodded and took her leave into the kitchen.

Breakfast was finished in silence and with great speed. Sagira hadn't even gotten to her onigiri when Baba and Jahi got up to leave. She pleaded for somebody to stay and play with her but to no avail. Even Sagira knew when she couldn't win. The five-year old poked at the rice ball in annoyance as her Baba kissed her goodbye. Jahi straightened out is uniform for what seemed the millionth time as walked.

On his way out, Jahi whispered, "If you can come up with a decent strategy, I'll duel with you when I come home. But only one game you understand?"

"Okay!" Sagira immediately perked up. Jahi shook his head in exhaustion and walked with his Baba out the door, leaving Sagira alone with her thoughts.

As the little girl went about her normal daily activities; making duel strategies, watching television, playing with her toys, hiding Jahi's things, and coloring, she was reminded of the event at the breakfast table. She was used to seeing her Baba upset, but she realized then that she had never seen anyone hug her brother. Her initial feelings were of jealousy. She was the only one in their family that hugged and kissed Jahi, so seeing another person do it, made her upset. Then, if she understood right, she heard that her mother used to hug and kiss Jahi a lot. As the day went on, Sagira thought about her big brother. She wondered if Jahi would be happier if he had a mother to give him lots of hugs and kisses when he was upset, or yell at her when she made Jahi mad, the way Baba does with Jahi when he makes her cry.

Sagira climbed the stairs and walked to her bedroom. On her dresser, she had a jewelry box that held some very important things. Usually, the little girl was half hazard with her things, like most children are, but the contents of this box were very special. Carefully, she lifted the dainty wooden lid, revealing a few pieces of diamond jewelry, but most importantly, the Blue Eyes White Dragon card her father gave her and a portrait style photograph of the three of them. Baba sat on a chair with Sagira on his lap. Jahi was standing stiffly beside them, holding on to the back of Baba's chair. Sagira was about three in the picture, making Jahi about five. Normally, Jahi's lack of a smile would not bother her, but today she wondered if it was normal.

After placing the picture back and closing the lid, Sagira made her way down the hall towards her Baba's room. She knew he had a lot of things that she was not supposed to touch but today she didn't care too much. She had only pretended not to know about the secret compartment in Baba's closet or the fact that there was a key to it in his nightstand. Sagira giggled at her own deviousness as she walked over to the nightstand and fumbled, above her head, for the key. After a bit of a struggle, her hand caught it and she pulled it out triumphantly. The girl scampered to the closet and went down on her hands and knees. Behind her Baba's large array of shoes, there was what looked like a cabinet door. It was tiny, and Sagira figured it was just her size. She'd never had the courage to unlock the door before, but today she felt an urgent need to do so. She'd been having weird dreams about this door for a week, and she had to see what was inside.

Cautiously, Sagira unlocked the door. The door swung open freely, revealing a small dark compartment. Sagira struggled to see in the darkness when her eyes caught sight of the large black shoebox. Excited, Sagira pulled out the box and walked with it to her Baba's window, where she could see more clearly. Unable to control herself, Sagira pulled the lid off the box and prepared herself to see whatever was inside.

The first thing she saw was the duel deck. Fingering through the cards the realized that they weren't like the cards her Baba used. They seemed, somehow more mysterious and exotic. She wanted very much to keep them for herself but figured she would ask Baba about it later. She knew well enough not to steal. There was also an assortment of heavy gold jewelry, which when put against her tan skin, seemed to radiate and glow. She made a note to ask her Baba about the jewelry as well. For all extents and purposes, this shoe box, with its duel monster cards and its jewelry, was reminding her more and more of her own jewelry box, but somehow more mature. This being the case, Sagira was not initially surprised to see the pictures. What did surprise her was the nature of the pictures.

On the very top was a picture of her Baba, but it was strange because he looked so much younger. He looked very cool in his white Kaiba corp. coat and black, long sleeve shirt underneath. Sagira couldn't help but blush a little at the young man that would become her Baba. Even a five-year old girl can recognize an attractive man when she sees one, and her Baba was definitely an attractive man. The next picture had her Baba in it again, except this time, he had his arm around the waist of a tall, elegant looking tan woman. Sagira could tell that this must have been her Mother, because of the way the woman had always been described. Sagira looked at her in awe. To the little girl, Ishizu Ishtar was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. She wanted to grow up to be that pretty. Sagira also recognized some of the jewelry her Mother was wearing as the same jewelry in the box, and concluded that this box must have belonged to her.

In the next picture, the woman was by herself and showing off a large tummy. After that was a picture of a tan, blue-eyed baby staring intently into the camera. The connection between that infant and her big brother didn't come to her right away. It wasn't until she saw the picture of her Mother holding the baby in Jahi's room that she made the connection. The next picture was of her Baba and Jahi. They were seated beside each other on the sofa downstairs. The pose seemed unnatural in a way that Sagira had come to expect when looking at a photograph of the two of them together. However, she noticed that rather than the disinterest she was used to, the toddler looked as though he was trying to copy Baba's face. The cool glare at the camera was over exaggerated and Sagira thought it was very cute. Sagira flipped to the next picture and stopped.

It was a picture of Jahi, at the same age as the last one, and their Mother. She stopped, looking somewhat confused by the unfamiliar picture. The setting of the picture looked to be the Domino Museum in the Ancient Egypt exhibit. Sagira knew because she had gone with Jahi and Mona many times before. Their Mother was holding Jahi in her arms, and contrary to the image Sagira was used to seeing, he was beaming brightly. The toddler gave a generous smile as he pointed in the direction of the camera and their Mother waved as well. Sagira could not stop looking at Jahi's smiling face. It seemed so very alien to her. What Sagira saw was a level of happiness that she didn't realize Jahi could have. Thinking about how unhappy her big brother must be all the time, was too much for the sensitive child to handle. A cough was followed by a sniffle, and then the water began to run. Sagira cried uncontrollably, and she didn't know how to make it stop. Her tiny heart hurt because she was unable to make her big brother happy the way their mother did. She cried relentlessly and didn't know when the pain would stop until something outside the window caught her attention, and she stopped unable to believe what she was seeing was real.

_Father's stone cold expression softened when he saw Sagira. Even though, in his lifetime, she never existed, the magic of my little sister still worked to make even the most solid icicle melt in her presence. That included myself as well. 11 years had passed since the last time I saw Sagira, and my own memories and the pictures I had of her, did not do her justice. I realized that both Father and I were smiling as the scene unfolded around us. Similar to my memories, when Sagira pulled out the pictures and started crying both of us immediately moved to comfort her, even though we knew she could not see, feel, or hear us. But just as we moved to help, the scene morphed. Once everything returned to normal, we realized that we were out on the yard. This particular part of the yard was beyond the gate, where the street lay. In the distance we saw Sagira still by the window, crying._

"_Why are we out here?" Father questioned me. I did not respond because I honestly didn't know, although for some reason, I had a very bad feeling. Before I could voice any concern, a very familiar figure seemed to appear out of nowhere. The tan skin, white robes, and the golden scale leading me to believe he was Anpu, was hard to forget._

"_Shaadi?" I questioned the spirit._

"_Hello again Jahi Kaiba. I pray your attempts to correct your family's destiny are going well."_

"_Do I know you?" Father interrupted. He looked at Shaadi as though he were struggling to remember._

"_You do know me Seto Kaiba. But whether or not you remember me is a different story, and not of much consequence." He replied cordially. _

"_Why are you here? Have I run out of time already?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I had convinced Father yet, although witnessing Mother's death did seem to shock him. I wasn't ready to let Father go unless I knew he would forgive Mother and correct our family's destiny._

"_Time is completely subjective here. It is of no consequence."_

"_So then why are you here?" I insisted. Shaadi grinned in a way I hadn't seen before. It looked almost malicious. He said nothing, but pointed towards the window. Father and I turned quickly and saw what appeared to be Sagira staring at us in shock from inside the house. I turned to Shaadi in panic. "Is she looking at us?"_

"_No, actually she's looking at me." A smooth and undoubtedly familiar feminine voice echoed behind us. Father and I both turned slowly, not wanting to believe what we were hearing. We gaped, just as shocked as the five-year old in the window._

"_Mother?"_

_The beautiful tan woman clad in a long, flowing white gown stood only feet away, a slight smile evident across her face. I blinked hard, trying to process that she was really there; not a bruise, not a scratch, not a sign of worry anywhere on her body. She gazed up at the window and waved nonchalantly before turning back to us._

"_Jahi, you've grown so much!" Mother appeared to glide towards us, her arms open wide to receive me. I was frozen where I stood. When her arms encircled me, I could feel the warmth of her body, the eagerness in her embrace, I could smell the scent of her hair, and the warmth of her breath against my skin. She felt real; she wasn't an illusion or a character in the scene. But both Father and I had watched her die. That's when it dawned on me. I had also died. She wasn't alive; she was a spirit just as I was. Once it made sense in my mind, I found myself able to react. I hugged her as tightly as I could. "Oh! And you're strong too I see! A little more gently please!"_

"_You…" Father rudely interrupted our reunion with his own surprise. "You died. I saw you get hit by the car."_

"_Yes. I'm no longer of the living world."_

"_Answer something for me."_

"_Yes, Seto Kaiba."_

"_Why? Why would you do that? Nothing is worth throwing your life away!" Father was passionate in his argument. Once again I felt humbled by him, the way I had growing up. I wasn't sure whether seeing Mother's death had fazed him enough, but I could see the confusion and the hurt in his face. Regardless of the airs he put up or the walls he protected his heart with, there was no doubt that Father loved this woman and I understood for the first time, why she wouldn't believe anything he said to the contrary. _

"_The answer is simple." Mother gently replied, distancing herself from me. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, as though something bad was about to happen. "When I was a young girl, I put the Millennium Necklace on for the first time and saw many things. I saw the things that were destined to occur. I used that to track down my brother all the way to Japan. I used it to find you and I knew how my life was supposed to end up. However, you went against what I saw. After our battle, I gave the Necklace to the Pharaoh, but before that I saw one last thing. Destiny had chosen a new path for me. A happy life, with two children and a husband. The children I saw were intelligent, loving, and sensitive with tan skin and bright blue eyes. The husband, was you Seto._

"_At first I was confused. I could admit to myself that you were an attractive young man, but living together and raising a family was hard to believe. But it started to make sense. I was the rightful wielder of the Necklace and you were the rightful wielder of the Rod. When every other Item scattered in different directions, those two remained together. They stood the test of time. As the embodiments of those Items, we were destined to do the same. But when I became pregnant, you were under so much pressure. I was afraid that you would be unhappy about it; that you would be resentful and the happy life I saw in my vision would not come to pass. I decided to go to Egypt, and return with our son when you were ready and willing to be a father. _

"_But I was wrong. You thought I had abandoned you forever and you were even angrier because of my secrecy. You took my child away from me and shut me out of your life. I watched as Jahi grew more and more distant, I became apathetic towards Sagira, she craved for attention that I would not give her, you were obsessed with proving you didn't need me in the picture, none of us were truly happy. I know you don't believe in destiny or the power of the Millennium Items so I'll say it this way. I loved you more than anything. I wanted to have a life with you and our children. That image of our future family was my life and that had already been destroyed. All that was left was to destroy the bodies of that image. It's as simple as that. My time had come. And now, unfortunately, the time has come for another."_

"_Hi! You're my Mama, right?" _

_The chill in my spine intensified 100x when I heard Sagira's innocent voice call out from the front door. Fear, panic, and dread spread through my entire body._

"_Mother. What day is it?"_

"_May 15th. Five years since my death."_

_With those words, all the air left my lungs. I couldn't move. I couldn't breath. I couldn't do anything. The uncomfortable lump that formed in my throat often when I remembered my baby sister, returned full force. I felt numb watching Mother motion for Sagira to come closer. I didn't see Mother silently mouth an apology in my direction, before beaming a beautiful smile. What I heard, was Sagira approaching the gates and stopping, unable to go any further. For a moment, I was relieved but persistent Sagira moved to the edge of the gate door, where there was a single bar, slightly bent and squeezed her tiny body through. _

"_No!" I shouted out desperately. Sagira could not hear me and continued to walk in Mother's direction. I turned to face Mother again and noticed that she was kneeling down in the middle of the road. "Shaadi! Please, make it stop! I don't want to see it!" I begged. _

"_See what? What the hell is going on? Why the hell is Ishizu luring her into the …" Father stopped, piecing it together. "Ishizu! Cut that out, what the hell are you doing?"_

"_My name is Sagira. You're my Mama!" The little girl scurried closer to Mother and the street, clutching the same photograph in her hands. Mother nodded happily, the slightest sign of a tear in her left eye. Mother opened her arms wide for an embrace._

"_Young Miss!! How did you get out there?" Mona screamed from the doorway and ran as fast as her plump body would allow. "Don't run into the street! What are you doing? Please come back! Young Miss!! No, there's a car!!"_

_The last thing I saw was the oncoming car and Sagira running into Mother's arms. I couldn't do it. I couldn't watch. I turned my head in time to see Father's pure white face look on in horror. If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn I saw tears in his cold blue eyes. I continued to turn my head and saw Shaadi with his head lowered as though in prayer. _

_Even though I closed my eyes and covered my ears, I still heard the skid of the car, the loud thwak of her tiny body against the metal, and that chilling scream of pain that stole the last of the strength in my body, causing me to fall to my knees in tears._

_**Please Read and Review**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

Jahi had felt something was wrong midway through his test. A sudden shiver, which he had never felt before, instilled a lingering feeling of dread. For some unknown reason his mind went to Sagira and the dueling deck in his school bag. He'd promised to duel with her upon arriving home. Jahi struggled through a test for the first time in his life. Usually, the answers came out fluidly, but this odd feeling was fogging up his mind. Jahi tried to appear normal. Being a wealthy, biracial seven year-old boy in a seventy five percent female, all Japanese seventh grade class, he was constantly watched. He didn't want people getting the impression that he couldn't handle being in the class. He could handle anything. But the feeling lingered in is body.

Shortly after the test, Jahi's name was called over the loud speaker. His fellow classmates weren't very enthusiastic, with the exception of the mother-type girls in the class who thought that Jahi was adorable no matter what he did. But for the most part, his classmates understood that when Jahi was called to the office, it was usually to receive some sort of prestigious award or it had something to do with his Baba's work. His classmates knew this and Jahi knew this as well, but today didn't feel right.

Jahi walked silently towards the schools main office and was intercepted by Rowland, who quickly escorted his in the opposite direction, towards the main doors out of the school. He didn't bother asking about being signed out or what was going on. Rowland looked very agitated. Once the both of them were in the backseat of the limousine, the driver took off. Only then was Jahi ready to ask the question.

"Rowland, what's going on? Did something happen at Baba's office?" Normally if Jahi got no answer, he would become angry. However, Jahi noticed how distressed Rowland looked and on top of his own feeling that something was wrong, his anger was replaced with fear. "Rowland, where are we going?"

"Young sir, we're going to the hospital. Your sister, she's had an accident."

Jahi was confused. What kind of accident could land Sagira in the hospital? For as far as he could remember, Sagira was crashing in to things and falling down steps. The idea that anything could land that girl in a hospital was too much to grasp all at once.

"She's alright though, isn't she?"

At that moment, Rowland's cell phone started buzzing. After a quick look at the caller ID, Rowland answered in a tone that was just as anxious as he felt. Jahi simply stared as Rowland's face went slack. He nodded stiffly, as though he was holding something back. Jahi wished that he wasn't wearing those sunglasses so that he could see his eyes, but Rowland pushed the glasses even closer to his eyes and let out a strangled sigh that made Jahi very nervous. After about a minute of nodding and a few 'yes I understands, Rowland flipped the phone closed and lowered the window separating them from their driver.

"Head back to the estate."

"Does that mean Sagira is back home already?" Jahi asked hopefully. Rowland gave no reply for a long, time. He simply looked out the tinted window. Jahi continued to demand an answer until they reached the gates.

"Your uncles should all be inside, young sir, so…"

Jahi couldn't take anymore of this. He wanted to see his sister. He'd prepared his deck and everything. Jahi stopped playing Duel Monsters the first time she beat him. It was too embarrassing being beaten by a toddler. He hated losing. He knew if he played her again, he would loose again, and that's why he refused to duel with her. But he was willing. He'd thought up a strategy all day. He wanted to play with his sister, and play well, and loose with dignity, and beat her up afterwards, and torture her by putting her toys in high places until she cried as payback for beating him.

As soon as the gates opened up a little, he bolted away from the car. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, towards Sagira's room, where she would be waiting for him.

There were already two occupants in Sagira Kaiba's room. Odion tried his best to be strong for his brother's sake, despite his own feelings. Marik could do nothing of the sort. His pitiful moans and wails echoed in the large bedroom.

"Master Marik. I understand your feelings. I feel the same way. But we must try to control ourselves until this has been explained to Jahi." Odion insisted, wiping back his own tears.

"Why? Why the baby? Why Sagira?" Marik choked out miserably. He hadn't cried so hard since his sister's death. "She did nothing wrong! She was a baby! Aye Ra, why the baby? You've taken my sister from me, now you take the child that would have her face?" Marik screamed angrily towards the ceiling. "She was all I had left of Ishizu! There's nothing left! They've taken everything!"

"That's not true Master Marik! There is still Jahi, and we would not want to scar him by making this situation even harder for him."

"ITS HIS FAULT!!" Marik's angry shout reverberated off the walls. Odion looked at him in a mixture of shock, confusion, and anger.

"Master Marik, that is enough. You are upset. Surely you don't mean to imply…"

"That bastard Kaiba killed Ishizu. Now his son has done it to Sagira!

"Master Marik!"

"I heard it myself, Odion! You heard her too, struggling to speak her last words to that bastard! She said she wanted Jahi to be happy again. She said she saw her mother and ran to her because she was the only one who could make him smile. She wouldn't come to that conclusion on her own. He must've put that idea in her head!"

"You don't mean that!"

"SHE'S DEAD!! HE KILLED HER!! HE KILLED OUR BABY!! HE KILLED HER!! HE…" Marik was cut off by a sharp slap across his face. Odion stared at him with eyes full of anger.

"Stop saying things you're going to regret later! Jahi will be home any moment and we …" Odion made the mistake of looking over towards the doorway. His face dropped and the rest of the air left his lungs. Marik looked over and immediately felt the dread move through his body like a lightning strike. The pain was so immense, he feared he'd vomit or die in anguish.

Jahi stood petrified in the doorway, having heard everything they said.

He couldn't understand what they meant. What did they mean, Sagira was dead? When? How? Why? He didn't do anything! At least that's what he wanted to believe. Did they mean what they said? Was it true? Was he responsible for her death? He never asked her to find their mother! He never said only mother could make him smile! It was Sagira! Sagira was the only one he loved! She was the only friend he had, the only person in the world who loved him! Sure, he always wished that they had a parent that would stand up for him and comfort him, and protect him against Baba. He secretly wished for it, but he never told Sagira that. He could live without a mother, but how was he supposed to live without Sagira. He didn't kill anybody! They were lying! The tears streamed down his face. They burned like acid.

"Jahi…" Marik said in the most pitiful, most remorseful voice the boy had ever heard.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE LYING!! STOP LYING!!" Jahi screamed. His entire body had turned beet red. He was hurt and angry and scared and confused and he didn't even know what else.

Odion made a move towards him, to which Jahi screamed in objection. Marik looked at the boy, thinking he looked a lot like a wounded animal; frightened and dangerous. Marik wanted to apologize. Odion was right. Maybe somewhere deep inside, he did hate Jahi and blame him for Sagira's death, but he never in a million lifetimes would have admitted that in Jahi's presence. It wasn't Jahi's fault that he looked like his father. He cared about Jahi very much, but at that moment, Marik was frightened of the seven year-old Seto look-alike. The murder of those who would threaten them was not an unfamiliar practice on either side of his bloodline, and no age was too young.

At that moment, Jahi heard the main door open and close. He recognized his Baba's heavy steps on the solid wood floor downstairs. Desperately, Jahi turned on his heels, raced down the marble steps and wouldn't stop until he ran directly into his Baba's legs. His tears were so that he couldn't even see. He couldn't see the look on Seto's face.

"BABA! WHERE IS SAGIRA? WHERE IS SHE?"

"She's dead." Kaiba's voice was monotone, as though reciting a script. "She was hit by a car. She won't be coming back." Kaiba walked into the living room with Jahi fast at his heels.

"NO! Stop lying to me! She's not dead! Tell me where she is! We were gonna have a duel today! WHERE IS SHE? BABA! BABA!!"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW ANNOYING THAT IS? GO TO YOUR ROOM! I CAN'T HANDLE LOOKING AT YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Jahi stopped. Angry and hurt, he turned and ran back upstairs. His Baba had confirmed it. That meant it was true. Sagira was dead. Jahi didn't know what to do. He instinctively ran into Sagira's room, like he normally did when he was upset, but now there was no Sagira to comfort him. It was only a room and the uncle who'd accused him of murder.

"GET OUT!" Marik did not protest and joined Odion outside the door just as it was slammed shut behind him. Jahi let out one painful scream after another until he couldn't breathe. He was having an asthma attack. He noticed one of his inhalers was hidden underneath Sagira's bed. No doubt she was preparing for another game of 'Hide Jahi's Stuff' earlier that day. He rushed under the bad, pulled the cap off, and took two life saving breaths, despite the layer of dirt. Jahi lay, unable to move from underneath the bed and screamed again, only stopping when he felt in necessary to receive another puff of his inhaler.

Downstairs, Kaiba sat in the living room, on a couch that at one point seated Ishizu, Jahi, Sagira and himself comfortably. Now, it was so large and empty and lonely. With Sagira no longer there to brighten his mood, the entire mansion seemed to turn a hazy shade of gray. Mona had been fired, hours earlier. She was lucky he fired her over the phone on his way to the hospital, because if he had seen her after what he witnessed in that hospital, she'd probably have gone the way of his step father and been pushed out a window or worse. His baby. She'd been in so much pain. He'd never be able to forget how she cried for him or the story she told him of seeing her mother in the street.

There was no one left to comfort him. All he had left was Jahi. Kaiba heard the boy screaming upstairs but didn't have the heart to go to him. Jahi was a smaller version of himself. Everything he felt, Jahi was vocalizing. He couldn't comfort Jahi, he didn't know how. Kaiba blamed himself for Sagira's death. He had hidden his guilt about Ishizu and now he was struggling over Sagira. By looking at his son's crying face, he would, in essence, be forced to face himself and his own feelings. Kaiba slumped from his position on the couch into a kneeling position on the floor. He pressed his face hard onto the floor and covered his head in shame.

Silently he wept. He apologized to Sagira for not protecting her the way he was supposed to. He apologized to Jahi because he was not strong enough to face him anymore without feeling ashamed of himself. Finally, he apologized to Ishizu for not loving her the way she needed to be loved and begged for her forgiveness. But most importantly, he begged for her not to take Jahi away from him too. Kaiba felt too much hatred towards himself and anything that reminded him of himself to think that he would ever feel comfortable around or even like Jahi very much, but Kaiba couldn't handle loosing another person.

Eventually, Kaiba was able to pick himself off the ground and wipe away his tears. Upstairs, Jahi's screams had turned into uncontrolled sobbing. Kaiba made no move to comfort his son. He would let Jahi cry as long as he wanted to. He would let Jahi cry for him too. Kaiba had no time to cry anymore. He had a funeral to organize and a company to keep running.

Kaiba let his son cry and barricade himself in his sister's room for three days. Sagira's wake had been on the third day, and although Kaiba had insisted, Jahi refused to go. However, the morning of the fourth day was the funeral. The Dueling world recognized a day of mourning on behalf of the passing of what they expected would have been the greatest duelist of their generation. The procession would be televised even though the actual ceremony was to be a private affair. Kaiba had given in and allowed Jahi to stay home the day of the wake because it was public. Even though Sagira was young and new to the professional dueling circuit, she had amassed a large number of fans. For their sake, he held a public wake for them and for business associates to pay their respects and because there were so many people, he allowed Jahi to opt out if he couldn't control himself. But Kaiba would not allow Jahi to miss his sister's funeral. He was already dressed when he pounded on Sagira's door.

"Jahi, get out of there now! Get dressed."

"I'm not going." Was Jahi's melancholy reply.

"Enough of this, Jahi. The limo will be ready in half an hour. Get dressed."

"I said, I'm not going!"

"Jahi, don't make me come in there!"

"Leave me alone!"

Kaiba had enough of playing nice. For Jahi's sake, he had refrained from simply barging in to the room since there were no locks. Now, he didn't care anymore. Kaiba didn't simply open the door; he kicked the door open. Jahi had been pushing his luck by behaving so badly towards his father the past few days, but Kaiba had let it slide. Not anymore. He walked into the room holding a miniature version of the suit he was wearing. Kaiba made no attempt to hide his distaste when he looked at the state of his son.

Jahi's school uniform had been crumpled up and discarded underneath Sagira's bed, leaving Jahi in only an undershirt and his underwear. His thick black hair was matted and disheveled and covered in gray fuzz. His eyes were swollen and crusted over. His nose, red and dripping. His lips were chapped to the point of cracking. Jahi hadn't bathed in days. It would seem that the few times Jahi had left the room, it had only been to use the toilet, and nothing else.

"Jahi, this is disgusting! Take a shower, get dressed and fix yourself up for God's sake! You're going to this funeral!"

"I won't go!" Jahi protested from his seated position on the floor.

"This isn't up for discussion. I gave you three days to come to terms with it. No matter how long you sit in this room she won't come back. You may as well see her and say goodbye with some dignity!"

"This is all your fault…" Kaiba had turned to leave, figuring the conversation was over, when Jahi muttered.

"What did you say?" Kaiba turned to face his son in disbelief and anger.

Jahi stood, looking at his father with eyes full of venomous hatred. Even Kaiba had to step back, and for a moment Kaiba wondered what kind of monster child he had created. No doubt, Jahi had the genetics of a Father Killer on both sides, but Kaiba wouldn't allow himself to fall victim to that.

"Everyone thinks I'm responsible for Sagira's death, cause she died trying to do something for my benefit…."

"Who told you that?" Kaiba was shocked that Jahi would get that idea in his head. He was unaware of what Jahi had heard Marik say. Had he heard it, Kaiba surely would have killed the man.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Jahi continued, "I never told her I needed a mother. That only our mother was allowed to touch me. I never put that idea in her head! YOU DID! YOU were the one who kept talking about our mother! You're the reason she would think she could see her. You're the reason she would think we would need her! It's because of you that I was upset as much as I was, and that's why she thought I needed a parent who would actually care about me! EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT!"

Kaiba felt as though he were being stabbed in the chest over and over again. The guilt he had always felt, Jahi was vocalizing it. Every fear and doubt he'd ever had was being thrust back in his face. Rather than cry, Kaiba protected himself by getting angry. Had Jahi been collected enough to understand what he was dong to his Baba, he might have stopped, but by now he could not. Tears flowed down his furious face.

"Sagira was the only person in the world who loved me at all, and you took her away from me! You killed our mother and you killed Sagira. Now I don't have anybody! I HATE YOU! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! IT'S –"

Jahi didn't even have time to brace himself. He never saw his enraged Baba coming and therefore was completely unprepared when Kaiba backhanded him clear across the room. Kaiba was in too much of a frenzy to even control his strength. He'd hit Jahi at full power, and the result was Jahi careening through the air until he slammed into the opposing wall. The impact was strong enough to send the contents of the hanging shelf above him tumbling down on him. Kaiba looked down at his hand in surprise, and realized that he'd hit Jahi not with the back of his open hand, but with the back of a closed fist.

Slowly, Kaiba turned from his hand to look at Jahi. What he saw was a look of fear in Jahi's eyes he'd never seen before. The boy was beyond petrified. He couldn't even manage to cry in pain. The tears just came out of his wide unblinking eyes. His body was shaking in terror. Kaiba hadn't meant to hit Jahi at all, his body simply reacted to the verbal attack on it's own without regard to who the attack was coming from. Kaiba made a movement to go and pick his son up and apologize, but when he stepped towards him, Jahi shook violently and let out a whimper. Kaiba turned and walked towards the doorway, taking deep breaths as he did.

"You WILL go to your sister's funeral. You'll stop this childish act RIGHT NOW, UNDERSTAND?" Before Kaiba could leave he recognized an unpleasant sound and smell. "And make sure you take a shower. I don't want to be near a child that reeks of piss!" Kaiba tossed the small suit on the bed. He caught a glimpse of Jahi trying to hide the puddle that had formed around him and walked out of the room.

No one would ever see how Kaiba's hand trembled as he made his way down the stairs. Every day that Sagira had been gone, he realized more and more how the tiny child had maintained order in their home. Without Sagira to talk to about his frustrations with Jahi, there was no one to steer him back to the undeniable truth that he loved him more than anything else in the world. The result, Kaiba found himself wishing that it had been Jahi who'd been in that accident, rather than Sagira. When he would come back to his senses, he'd be disgusted with himself for thinking such a thing, but the fact remained that those thoughts were in his head more often than he felt comfortable with. Without Sagira, there was no one to divert attention away from possible conflicts. The result, Kaiba had assaulted quite a few members of his staff and now, his son.

Kaiba was not the type of father to shy away from more physical forms of punishment, but he never ever believed he would attack his son. Discipline, with warnings and consistency; never an unwarned attack. Discipline, to deter bad behavior; never used in rage or anger. Discipline, using an open hand with just enough power to get the message across; never an enclosed fist, never to go flying across the room, never to instill fear. The whole situation felt like a bad memory out of his childhood. It made him feel sick to his stomach. Kaiba didn't like the man he was becoming.

He needed someone to stay human for. At first, it was Mokuba. But Mokuba was grown now and couldn't remain his brother's pet poodle forever. He was making his own business ventures, making his own friends, and having his own heartaches and breaks. Ishizu had been dead for just over five years, and Kaiba didn't see any new women coming in to his life worthy enough to fill her shoes. Sagira was dead now too, so there would be no more hugs or kisses or chance of the name Kaiba carrying the title of King of Games. All these people who'd forced him to stay loving and human, were no longer by his side, and Jahi only goaded his anger, though many times, it wasn't the boy's fault. It was his face. That face that so closely resembled his own. When Ishizu and Sagira were alive, it was something Kaiba took pride in, but since then, Jahi's face had been serving as a reminder of how much Kaiba hated himself. It ensured that no matter how much Kaiba loved his son, he'd never be able to like him.

Kaiba didn't realize he'd been reflecting so long until he heard unsure footsteps from the staircase. Jahi descended the stairs in the black suit his Baba had left for him. In the shower, the young Kaiba boy managed to comb his thick mess of hair back into its infallible strait back look with only the wild bangs being resistant. He'd washed his face and removed much of the dirt, eye crust, and dried mucus from his face. His chapped lips had been treated with a thick layer of petroleum jelly, which would absorb in to his lips by the time anyone important saw him. The only signs of his ordeal were the redness of his eyes and nose.

Jahi stood at the foot of the staircase with a look just as wary of his Baba as he was upstairs, if not more suspicious. Kaiba could see the array of emotions Jahi was trying to keep hidden. He was angry, scared, frustrated, and mournful and like his Baba, he longed for a hug from Sagira to keep him from losing it. Kaiba motioned for Jahi to come closer. There was hesitation, but Jahi eventually did as he was told, keeping his eyes focused on the ground.

Jahi was afraid. He'd been afraid of his Baba for a long time, but never to such an extreme. He hadn't meant what he said at all. Like his uncle, he may have believed it deep in his heart, but mainly, he was trying to push his feelings on to the most convenient person.

"I'm sorry Father." The coldness of being called something as formal as Father rather than Baba did not escape either of them. They both became aware that no matter what happened from that point onward, Jahi would never see him as his Baba again. He was his father now. Kaiba couldn't take anymore of this; it was too much. He took a deep calming breath and placed his hands gently on Jahi's shoulders.

"Don't apologize, Jahi. You have nothing to apologize for." Jahi looked up at his father in confusion. Kaiba noticed his look and smirked, painfully. He was finally allowing Jahi to see his real emotions. "What you said was right. We're in this situation right now because of me and you have every right to hate me for it. I have some issues that I need to work on and rather than do that, I've taken it out on you. I understand completely why you would hate me.

"But for God's sake Jahi, I'm begging you," Kaiba lowered himself on to his knees so he could look at Jahi at eye level. Jahi was unsure of what to do. Now at eye level, Jahi could clearly see how worn and tired his father was. His eyes were red and teary as though struggling to hold back. Kaiba gripped him tightly to emphasize what he was about to say. "Please have mercy! Have mercy on me! I can't take it. I can't take looking at you this way, it just hurts. Looking at you, wearing my face, and seeing you scream and cry and knowing I want to do the same thing but I can't, it's just too much for me to take, so I'm begging you not to do this to me anymore."

Jahi didn't like seeing his father that way. It was confusing and saddening to see the mighty Seto Kaiba fall. The urge to cry arose in him yet again, which Jahi was trying hard to suppress. He thought he heard salvation in the form of a limo pulling up to the front door. Jahi turned to walk to the door, but Kaiba did not let go, which somehow made swallowing the lump in his throat even harder. Jahi tried once again to pull away, but once again Kaiba would not let him go.

"Stop it! Why are you saying these things? Father, let's just go to the funeral!" Jahi kept trying to pull away, each tug being more desperate than the last. By now, Kaiba had the boy in a tight embrace. Desperate, Jahi pushed against his chest, then his shoulders, and then his face, to get away. That's when Jahi noticed the wetness. The tears that his father had been keeping in were coming out. "NO!" Jahi protested, unable to stop his own tears anymore. Seto Kaiba was crying. There was no way Jahi Kaiba could feign strength anymore.

"I'm so sorry about your mother and about Sagira. It's going to be much tougher now. There's only you and me." Kaiba and Jahi finally managed to lift their heads. Kaiba wiped away Jahi's tears after wiping away his own. "We have to be strong. And even though I know we may not like each other I want you to know this, because it's very important," he held the sides of Jahi's face firmly in both hands and looked very seriously into his eyes, "as long as you are my son, I WILL love you."

That was the end of it. The driver came in shortly after, notifying the two Kaiba's that everything was ready. The weakness that Kaiba had displayed previously evaporated before Jahi's eyes and the intimidating presence he was used to, returned. The long drive was ridden in silence. Sagira's fans were held at bay as the two of them walked in to the church where the private ceremony would be held. Some looked on the brink of tears, others were already crying. Somehow, seeing their faces made Jahi very proud, and made his heart feel a little less heavy. Even though Sagira's life had been short, it had meaning to many people. Jahi started to understand how his father felt a little better. For Sagira's sake, and for the sakes of the all the people that admired her, he had to be strong.

The funeral was short and beautiful, much like Sagira had been. Odion sat by himself, so as not to be caught up in the flood of tears coming from both Marik and Mokuba, who were seated next to each other. More than likely, the double job of mourning his niece and urging Marik not to blame Seto for everything, fell on Mokuba, which is why they were huddled so close together. Jahi sat beside his father and did not cry. Just as the ceremony was coming to a close, Jahi and Kaiba walked beside the casket to say their last goodbye. It took all of Jahi's will power not to let out a sob when he looked at Sagira's peaceful face. She looked like she was sleeping and would wake any moment. Instinctually, Jahi leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were cold and reeked of formaldehyde. Inside, Jahi wanted to crawl into the casket with her and let them bury the two of them together, but Jahi kept his composure.

Sagira was laid to rest in a mausoleum alongside her mother.

At the end of all the proceedings, Jahi stood along side his father and accepted the condolences of many people. He felt numb. It was all over. Sagira had been laid to rest and there were no more funerals or wakes to attend. Life had to continue going. A large, aging man approached the two of them and shook Kaiba's hand and then Jahi's. He was most likely, a business associate. After giving Kaiba his condolences, the man focused on Jahi and smirked.

"You're a very strong young man. You truly are your father's son."

At that moment, something life altering began. Jahi was so happy, when the man said that, and formed a connection in his mind that would stay with him for the rest of his life. His desire to be like his father and his desperate need to be loved would intertwine into an obsession. Sagira was gone and now, Jahi needed to feel as though someone loved him. His father's earlier words echoed in his head, "as long as you are my son, I WILL love you." Although Kaiba meant that he would always love him, Jahi's warping mind was taking it in a much more literal sense. Whether it was meant as praise or an insult, Jahi would live his life in order to hear those words, "You truly are your father's son." Jahi WOULD be loved. He'd make sure of it. He would be his father's son.

_**I actually got a little teary writing this and the previous chapter! I hope everyone is ready because after this is the LAST CHAPTER and a prologue after that! OMG, I've been working on this story for such a long time and its finally coming to an end! Anyway, please Read and Review! Thanks.**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

_It was an odd feeling, seeing the events of my life flash before my eyes. Decisions I made, cruelties I'd committed without batting an eye, thoughts that tormented me, relationships that grew apart, all of these events that I'd already lived through seemed very different now. The Jahi Kaiba I saw before me was very cold and narrow minded. He was passionate about nothing except for work because that was how his father was and if he became like his father, he'd be called his father's son, and as long as he was his father's son, he'd be loved. So narrow minded was his focus to be loved by that man, he completely ignored others that would show him love._

_My father, over the years, seemed to mellow out a bit. Granted, he was an intimidating person up until the very end and was not one to be messed with. He didn't let things slide and when it came to work especially, he was a perfectionist. However, my father seemed to come to the conclusion that he could not erupt into violent episodes so easily, and began to more heavily rely on glaring to get his point across. _

_Shaadi had mentioned before that time was completely subjective in the space we were in. I don't know how long Father and I stood there, watching the pitiful events of my life before I felt eyes on me. Looking over at Father, I noticed he looked exhausted. I couldn't blame him. I was exhausted as well. After witnessing Sagira's death, everything seemed grey and morbid. Mother had made note of the fact that the Kaiba mansion was once a fairytale castle but had become a fortress. The presence of my little sister had fooled people into thinking that fortress was a home, but when she left, her magic dissolved, and the place was once again revealed for what it was. It was depressing. I wished that the whole thing could be over._

_"Tell me," Father suddenly broke the monotonous silence, "when you were alive, you hated me, didn't you?" The scenes around us began to slow and conjoin into one definite space. I recognized the location as being the hallway just outside my father's office. As usual, the door was closed and nothing exciting seemed to be happening so I took the opportunity to sit on the floor and get comfortable. Father took my cue and sat down beside me._

_"I want to say no, but the truth is, somewhere deep inside, I really did hate you. I was afraid of you and I hated you, but I respected you and craved your acceptance."_

_"I can't blame you for that."_

_Once again, I looked over at Father and examined him closely. When he saw mother die, he stopped acting haughty and superior. His snide remarks had decreased to zero. Watching her death had shocked him. It appeared that watching Sagira's death had depressed him. When we first began, I would have been elated seeing his expression so glum, his mind clouded with doubt and self-loathing. But as I saw him now, I felt bad. There was something I had to come to terms with._

_"I don't hate you." When I said this, Father looked at me with a skeptical grin. "I mean it," I pressed on, "I don't hate you. At least, not as you are now. You've not yet become the father that I know; the father of my memories. You still have the chance to change what you've seen here. All you have to do is start over with mother, which, let's be honest, you want to do anyway."_

_Father shrugged, "Honestly, if she's gonna try to throw herself in front of a car and leave me with two annoying kids, I'd rather force her to stay in my place and never go outside again… but still…"_

_"I know, your pride is at stake. There was such a big fuss over the entire situation, and to give in now, just goes against your entire character. I understand, and I'll reiterate, I don't hate you. The person I hate… is myself." _

_It had taken a lot for me to accept that fact. I sat, letting the idea settle in. Father was quiet, looking at me for a long time before saying, "Well I could've told you that!"_

_His words took me by surprise for a few reasons. First, it was the first snide comment he'd made since before watching mother die. Second, it didn't feel like an attack, rather it felt like he was teasing me. It was playful rather than vindictive. It was something I wasn't used to receiving from him, but it was nice. Third, it seemed to lighten the mood. Slowly our exhaustion started to slip away and we talked with each other freely._

_We started talking about self-esteem issues and the roles our younger sibling had played in alleviating them. I told him about championship tournaments that Sagira won playing duel monsters and how he made my life so difficult, forcing me to work my way up in Kaiba corp. by myself. We talked about how we felt the first time we made one million dollars all on our own and we talked about our net worth. I told him about investments he was going to wish he'd made later on in his life. I found out that the woman I'd lost my virginity to was much older than I ever thought, since she was apparently, the same woman Father lost his virginity to when he was thirteen. Somehow, the experienced seemed even more creepy knowing that bit of information. _

_All my life I had looked up to my father and respected him, and tried to be like him. As I talked with his younger self, I realized that there was a lot I didn't know about him. I didn't know he had pushed his step-father out of a window. It suddenly made sense why my father would get so paranoid about talking with me in front of them or why people seemed so genuinely afraid to upset him. I didn't know that mother was the only proper girlfriend he'd ever had. I didn't know that his possessive nature was due in part to the fact that uncle Mokuba, his only blood relative before I was born, had been kidnapped on more than one occasion as a means to bait him. These were things that we never spoke about in our fortress of a home. The more I learned, the more I started to understand him. _

_"You know," I said once we had talked pleasantly for a while, "I don't think I've ever spoken with anyone like this."_

_"You seem like the type that doesn't have many friends."_

_"Neither do you."_

_"That's because I don't. There's this group of idiots, and the ring leader keeps saying he's my friend, but I really don't like anything about him. I don't care about big groups of friends. Family, that's what's important to me." Father smirked and looked at me. "So what's your deal?"_

_"I have issues with personal contact or any form of intimacy." Father looked at me with a perked interest. "I don't like to be touched. It was noticeable as a kid, which is why I didn't have any friends while I was at school. I had no problems ending my formal education when I was fifteen. Once I was out of school, there was no more pressure to 'make friends' with people. I became sexually active when I was sixteen, and it was pretty good physically but mentally and emotionally, it was…" Thinking about the incident was taxing on my nerves. "In any case, I've pretty much forced myself into celibacy for the past two years."_

_"What happened to you?"_

_"You didn't talk to me for weeks. You set me up with a therapist and let him deal with my problem, but you couldn't stand to look at me for a while after you heard about it. I didn't blame you, it was hard to live with myself." I took in a deep breath and looked at Father. "I would imagine Sagira."_

_Father's face became confused. "Are you talking about during sex?"_

_"Anything that required or was suggestive of touch, which yes, included sex." Father looked disgusted, which I completely understood. I thought it was disgusting too. "Apparently, Mona had been right. My emotional development was messed up. Even when I was aroused, the idea of the object of my desire actually touching me, it made me uncomfortable. If someone held me for too long, I'd become upset to the point where I'd want to cry, but being the kind of person I am, I'd become angry instead. When that happened, I'd find myself replacing the person with me with an image of Sagira. When I did that, the anxiety went away and I could enjoy the contact. _

_"One evening, when I was being intimate with a young lady from work, I slipped up and said Sagira's name. Even worse, she'd worked for the company long enough to know who Sagira was. I hadn't realized I'd done it, so I was surprised when big mouth told everyone she could and the entire building knew by the time I came in to work the next day. Word got to you that evening. You set me up with a therapist, a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. We didn't talk for weeks, you were so disgusted with me. _

_"Apparently, I'd created a schema, a set of rules in my head that I lived my life by. Only Sagira could touch me. Sagira looked like mother, so I associated mother with Sagira and looked upon any memory of my mother's embrace with fondness. The need to be in contact with people or my desire to be intimate with a woman went against the schema. In my mind, it was unacceptable. To make it acceptable, I replaced their image with that of Sagira thereby doing what my subconscious found acceptable while also giving in to my desires. We tried to do away with the schema but it was too much for me to handle all at once. I gave up the therapy and the analysis and I gave up on sex. For the past two years I focused completely on work. I can't tell you the last time I looked at a woman and took note of whether she was attractive or not."_

_Father looked at me dumbfounded for a while. We sat in silence. I looked at the floor but I could feel Father's gaze boring a hole into the side of my head. _

_"And people say I have issues!"_

_"Hee hee! Jahi the ecchi! **(pervert)** A child's voice came from around the corner of the hallway. Our heads immediately turned but we saw no one there. We stared at the spot certain we'd heard Sagira's voice. Suddenly, the top of a head appeared followed by a set of bright blue eyes. "Ah!" she squealed when she realized we'd seen her, and she disappeared behind the wall again, giggling. _

_I don't know what happened at that moment, but I suddenly realized that I couldn't see very clearly. When I felt the wetness on my cheeks I realized I that I was crying. As though suddenly splashed with water, my entire face felt wet. I wasn't just tearing up, I was openly sobbing. Breath after breath hitched in my throat and came out as coughs. My heart, it felt as though my heart was beating again. My body shook._

_"Get a hold of yourself." I heard Father say. I tried to regain my composure figuring he would comment about how undignified I was being. Instead he said, "She only called you ecchi. Don't throw a shit fit over it!" Before I could say another word Sagira stepped out from beside the wall with a shocked look on her face._

_"Baba said a bad word!" She pointed a tiny finger in his direction before walking over to me. "Jahi! I found our Mama, so you can smile now!" Without warning, Sagira rushed into me. Other than knocking the wind out of me, it was the best thing I'd felt in a long time. I held her tiny body and squeezed as tight as I could. "Gah! Jahi's gonna crush me into dirt and poop!" She said with a giggle. Even if it were true, I don't think I could have let go of her. It had been eleven years since I was last able to hold my little sister. I'd missed her, and I didn't want to let go of her again._

_"Hey shortie! Are you sure you want that pedo hugging up on you like that?" I gave Father and angry look for his off handed comment and held her closer. Sagira cackled. _

_"Leave him alone Seto, he's missed his little sister a lot." Mother appeared from around the corner of the hallway with a grin on her face._

_"See? See, Jahi? I brought our Mama! She's pretty right?"_

_I noticed that both mother and Sagira were clad in flowing white gowns. I looked from Sagira to mother and back, taking in the sight of them. Their faces really were very similar. It wasn't clone-like the way Father's and mine was but it was an astounding similarity, despite Sagira's round face. Much to my dismay, Sagira pulled away from me and walked over to Father. She walked up close to him and grabbed his face. Father looked at her with a face unchanging, but I could tell that he was amused, looking at her. _

_"What do you want?"_

_"Baba's so pretty!"_

_"No, I'm not. Men aren't pretty."_

_"Baba's so handsome!" _

_"Thank you."_

_"Afwan. **(You're welcome)** _

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Its Arabic." I cleared up for him. I couldn't remember the last time I'd spoken in Arabic. The banter the four of us shared was a mixture of English, Japanese and Arabic amongst Sagira, my mother and I, which aggravated Father since he couldn't speak the language. The entire situation felt comforting in a way I'd never experienced before. For the first time, I couldn't imagine life being better without all of us there. Before, when I saw my mother for the first time, I thought happiness would be staying with her, just the two of us. I'd felt the same way about Sagira. I had wanted to keep her all to myself, just us. When Sagira died, I was only concerned about the world my father and I lived in and fighting to keep his love, no one else mattered. Seeing the four of us together now, it felt right. This warmth, this was what my family was supposed to feel like. I prayed, that the man beside me was sharing my revelations, that he could feel it too._

_Without warning, mother stood up straight. _

_"This has truly been lovely. I wish we could just stay like this, but Sagira and I have somewhere to be." Ishizu gave a slight smile towards Sagira. "Isn't that right?" The little girl smiled back brightly. Mother returned her focus to Father and smiled. "I'll be seeing you soon, don't worry." After that, mother walked through the door into my father's office._

_"Mama and I have a top secret mission." Sagira grinned and let loose her signature cackle. "Bye-bye!" With an excited wave, Sagira followed mother into the office._

_Father and I stood, ready to follow them inside when we heard the door downstairs. The sound of solid confident footsteps echoed through the house. I recognized Uncle Mokuba's voice even though I couldn't hear what he was saying. The boots tapped against the marble staircase, and I suddenly was very certain of what scene was about to unfold. I recognized the sound of those steps, the sound those particular boots made against the marble, the weight of the steps. The sound clunked against the floor where marble ended and wood began again. They echoed along the main hallway and came closer to the spot where we stood. _

_A tall, dark, and gaunt looking figure rounded the corner where Father and I stood. He had an air about him that was intimidating and arrogant. Thick black hair with wild bangs, tan skin that caused the blue of his eyes to pop more dramatically, the squared off eye lids, lean face, lean build, and long legs. He was me._

_We watched as the other me, approached the door to my father's office, took a breath and peered inside. On the other side of the door, I heard my father's voice._

_"What are you doing home so early?" We followed my other self into his office and saw mother and Sagira sitting comfortably on the windowsill. My father was looking at them, even as he spoke with the Jahi in the room. After asking about whether uncle Mokuba was there, my father turned around and allowed the other me to sit with him. There was an awkward silence. _

_Father turned to me smirking, "Well it looks like I have you pretty well trained. Bowing when you enter the room, only speaking when spoken to…" I turned to him confused at first, but I realized he was right. I hadn't noticed before but I never initiated conversation with my father. I only spoke when spoken to. I tried to think back to when that must have started._

_I noticed that mother moved from the windowsill to sit beside my father on the desk. "Do you realize it's been 16 years since your mother died?" My father said. The story was coming full circle. In the next few minutes my father and I would talk about my mother and Sagira. It was May 15__th__, the 16 year anniversary of my mother's death and the 11 year anniversary of Sagira's death. Sagira was growing impatient sitting at the windowsill and started urging my father to hurry up. "I hear them calling me." He said, with a grin. It almost looked as though he was being playful with Sagira. "The time's come for me, but it's not too late; not for you. Show no fear, Jahi. I didn't raise you to be a coward."_

_I could still remember the way my heart went cold when my father pulled out that gun. It had the same effect on me, even though I was watching events that were still fresh in my mind. Had it been hours? Days? I couldn't tell, but regardless, I still felt that fear. The scene played out just as I remembered it. I was frightened and spoke out of term, said he didn't know what he was doing, and my father yelled at me angrily. Looking at it now, I could now see his nervousness. I watched as he told me to come over to him and I looked him in the eyes. I remember that heavy, shocking sensation when it felt as though my world was crashing down and I sank into the ground. Looking at it from this point of view, I realized that presence had actually been mother whispering what was going to happen and why it had to and pushing me down so I would not interfere. _

_"So is this really it? Is this really how I'm going to make my exit?" Father asked. His voice was quiet. I didn't have to look at him to know that he was pale. For the first time in my memory, I felt the urge to console him. Tenderly, I moved to place my hand on his shoulder when I was interrupted by the sound of my own voice screaming out 'No Baba' and then, the deafening gunshot. Father, who had stared, transfixed by the scene, jumped and clutched his head as tough in pain._

_"Father. Father! Are you okay? What's going on?"_

_"It's empathy pain." Mother replied from her position on the floor. She was holding the other me in her arms, protectively. The scene morphed and we found ourselves at the foot of the stairs. No longer in the room, Father appeared to calm down. I noticed mother was seated on the steps, waiting with a demure look on her face._

_"Fuck." I muttered under my breath._

_"What now?" Father asked with exhaustion._

_"Uncle Mokuba!" My voice erupted from upstairs. "Uncle Mokuba!" I appeared at the head of the stairs, running full speed. My hands and legs were covered in blood, my eyes, swollen with tears. Looking back, I should have foreseen what would happen. There was so much blood on my boots, I was slipping and sliding on the wood floor. How was I not supposed to slip when I hit the marble? _

_Much like when Sagira died, mother held out her arms as though to catch me as I stumbled. When I fell, I remembered that I saw my mother's face clearly for the first time ever. I wondered if this was why. As though in slow motion, the other me fell head first with out-stretching arms. It was almost as though I had jumped into mother's embrace rather than slip and fall. When I hit the step, head first, there was a loud crack, the sound of my neck breaking cleanly before I even realized I was dead, and mother disappeared. The dead body continued to roll down the steps until reaching our feet with a heavy thunk. _

_I stepped back, clutching my neck. I didn't feel the pain when I died, but looking at it from the outside, I felt it. I realized the extent to which Father had hurt upon seeing his death. I looked back up at the head of the stairs, and saw the father I knew, the one who had shot himself, wearing a white suit. Sagira was in his arms, pointing with concern at my body. _

_The scene began to shrink. All around us blinding white light crept in while the scene we watched shrank smaller and smaller until it was not but an orb I could hold in my hand. Time continued to move forward in the orb. We did not see my soul or Shaadi in it though. My father and Sagira eventually disappeared and my body was left alone and unchanging._

_"So is that it?" Father said, looking at the orb._

_"Of course not." A voice came from behind us. It was Shaadi, looking just the way he was the last time we saw him. He was holding in a grin. _

_"How can there be more? I've already died. This is where we met and I went back to correct my family's destiny."_

_"Honestly Jahi Kaiba, did you think time stopped at that moment? Time continues to move even after you've died. Even as you went back, this time continued to go on." Shaadi gave Father a menacing look. "Wouldn't you like to see how this will affect your younger brother?" At this, both Father and I went stark white. Uncle Mokuba was a grown man, but he could be very delicate, especially when it came to family. _

_We saw, in the orb, how Uncle Mokuba cried over my body when all attempts at resuscitation had failed. I could recall haw I wanted to leave quickly when he started calling for my father upstairs. The dread grew again. Shaadi touched the orb and it went white. The next scene that appeared was of Uncle Mokuba standing in disbelief looking at his brother's corpse. He stood for a long time shaking his head in denial before letting out a bone chilling scream._

_"STOP IT!" "STOP THIS!" Both Father and I shouted. I didn't want to see anymore. Father was also visibly upset. Angry yet sorrowful tears welled in Father's eyes._

_"Stop showing me these things!"_

_"You're brother will go into shock and remain in a self imposed vegetative state. He will be put under Marik and Odion's care since they are the only members of the family left. Marik will torture himself, blaming everything that happened on the fact that he felt sorry for you and gave you the number to Ishizu's hospital bed all those years ago. A year after this incident, Marik will get into a fit of rage and try to slit his wrists in the bathtub, Odion will attempt stop him, but in the scuffle, Marik will accidentally stab him, and Odion will bleed to death waiting for the ambulance to come. A few days later, Marik will succeed in killing himself with an intended drug overdose, leaving Mokuba alive but still in a vegetative state. It isn't long before he dies too._

_"These are the event's that about to begin." Shaadi touched the orb again and it went white, then disappeared completely. "You do not wish to see with your own eyes, Seto Kaiba?"_

_"No! I don't want to see anymore death! I don't want to hurt my family! Family is all I have!" Father shouted. Tears streamed down his face in an uncharacteristic shed of emotion. He shut his eyes tight and held his arms over is ears._

_I felt the same way. My heart went out to the man. I understood him now. Father was not a heartless man. Even if he was a cold hearted man most of the time, that still meant that he had a heart. Years of struggle and distrusting anyone that wasn't blood had forced him to but a protective ice barrier around his heart and that is what people saw. They saw the ice. But there was more to him then that. Mother had seen it. Sagira had seen it. And finally, after all these years, I could see it too. _

_This was my chance. I placed a hand on Father's shoulder. He turned angrily but softened when he saw it was me. He looked around furiously, obviously looking for Shaadi. but the spirit had gone. _

_"Father, please." I whispered to him. "Our family is at stake here. This isn't about pride or giving in to fate. This is about keeping what you love close to you." Father looked at me with a soft expression, but I couldn't read it. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Please Father." He had to understand. He had to. I allowed tears to role down my cheeks. "I want to be held by my mother. I want to know her. I want to have the type of relationship with Sagira that siblings are supposed to have. I want to see her grow up. I want to grow up knowing who you really are! I want to model myself after you because you're an awe inspiring man, not because I'm afraid you won't love me if I don't._

_"Father… Baba…" I was at a loss for words. My emotions were overwhelming me. "I can't force you to forgive mother if you aren't ready to. The most I can say is, if you love her, if she's important to you at all, don't let her go. If you don't trust her, tell her you don't trust her, if you don't forgive her, tell her you aren't ready to forgive her, but if you love her, tell her you love her! Keep her close and protect her. That way, she'll never want to leave you behind. It's up to you to decide."_

_Father still had the soft, unreadable expression on his face. Slowly, he pulled away and walked into the blinding light looking deep in thought. I called after him, but he either did not hear or chose not to respond. I was nervous, he didn't give me an answer. I followed him with my eyes until I couldn't see him anymore. _

_I'm still standing here. My body for some reason will not respond to my desire to chase after him. I'm alone in the whiteness and I don't know how much time has passed since I saw Father's back. Wait. I feel something. My throat and my chest. Something is happening. No! This is bad. I can't breath. No matter how much air I try to take in, my lungs won't fill up. I'm suffocating!_

_"Father! What have you done?!" I scream, but there is no reply. I'm alone. There isn't even an echo. My voice will no loner come out. I scream in my head for someone to come to me. For someone to rescue me. The white is becoming gray and hazy. The darkness continues to grow._

_Dear God! I'm dying! I'm really dying! What did he do? Everything around me is fading. My body is already gone, but now; everything about me, my entire existence, is ceasing to exist. _

_Please don't leave me alone!_

_Someone!_

_Shaadi! Sagira! Mama! Baba! Please!_

_I'm dying!_

End

_**But is it really? The Prologue will reveal everything! Read and Review.**_


	12. Epilogue

_**Here it is! The Finale!**_

Prologue:

Seto Kaiba received a phone call from the hospital at 3:22 am, the 15th of May. Within minutes, Kaiba emerged from his empty estate and took off into the early morning. When he arrived, Kaiba entered the way he normally entered hospitals; like a hurricane. The hospital was so large and complex, he had trouble finding where Ishizu was. He didn't like the feeling, but he was going to find that woman.

After a few minutes a frightened nurse pointed him in the direction of one particular waiting area. No sooner than that, did he find Ishizu sitting calmly on a bench. "Finally! Why didn't you call me, I was searching all over this damn hospital for you?"

"I was in an area where we couldn't use cell phones. I told you that, remember? I told you that's why I called from a hospital phone."

"Whatever! How is Jahi? Is he going to be alright? And where the hell is Sagira, I thought you said she was here!"

"Don't be this way Seto, we must be optimistic. Everything will be okay. Sagira is here, I didn't lie, she went to a vending machine over there somewhere." Ishizu attempted to calm him while pointing off in the direction Sagira had run off to. Unconvinced, Kaiba looked hard in that direction to see if Sagira really was over there.

True to his wife's word, Kaiba spotted Sagira in a far corner by the vending machines. For a moment, he relaxed, knowing that despite his young daughter being unable to come home by a reasonable hour, she had managed to get to the hospital. Then he realized that she was not by herself. Kaiba watched with growing anger as a young doctor spoke casually and he daresay, flirtatiously, with the young girl. Sagira seemed to have no qualms, blushing and giggling like the school girl she was.

"SAGIRA!" He barked, marching towards her.

Sagira jumped at hearing her name but turned with a bright smile to greet the familiar face. "Oh, hi Baba. I'd like you to meet…" Sagira didn't have a chance to finish before she was dragged away by the wrist. She sighed in exasperation and gave an innocent wave goodbye to the nice and attractive young doctor. Kaiba pulled Sagira back to where her mother was sitting and pointed to the seat next to her.

"Sit there and don't get up anymore."

"Baba!" Sagira began to protest when a young girl approached her. The child looked to be about eight years old and was carrying a large pink purse. Sagira smiled, immediately recognizing the style of the bag.

"Um… are you… are you?" The little girl stuttered. She seemed both excited and frightened to death.

"I'm Sagira Kaiba. What's your name?"

"…Emiko." The girl answered with a furious blush.

"Well how can I help you Emiko?" Sagira didn't think the little girl's face could get any redder, but she was wrong.

Eight year-old Emiko, turned her pink bag around so that Sagira could see the front. On it, an image of a very serious looking Sagira Kaiba stared directly outward holding a hand of cards. On the top, a phrase: Can you play with the big girls? Underneath: Sagira Kaiba, King of Games. For Sagira, it was both ego-trip worthy and incredibly embarrassing. She smiled as the little girl held up the purse, effectively hiding her face.

"Can I have your autograph?" The girl's voice came from behind the bag.

Kaiba had long been ready with a suitable permanent marker and handed it to Sagira, which would have been better suited for the job than the dinky pencil the girl was about to offer. Carefully, Sagira put her autograph signature underneath the area that had her name. Satisfied with the result, she handed the bag back to the little girl with the flushed face and bright smile. Once the girl was gone, Sagira turned to face her father again, feeling warm and gooey inside. The goo hardened and chilled when she saw his expression.

"So who the hell did you think you were talking to?"

"What? She was obviously a fan."

"I don't mean the kid!"

"Oh you mean that hot doctor guy?"

"This is not a situation where you should be flirting with people who are supposed to be saving lives. You shouldn't be flirting at all! You're… How old are you? You're like twelve!"

"I'm sixteen Baba. I'm gonna be seventeen soon."

Kaiba turned, forcing disinterest. In his eyes, Sagira's mind stopped at five years old and her body stopped at ten. Looking at her now was painful. Sagira had gotten so big. Granted she was short, but she was definitely over developed in other ways. It only made her look more and more like her mother, that is, if Ishizu were a sixteen year-old teen idol.

"Yeah well, whatever. You're still a young girl. You're underage. Why didn't you come home?" That was another issue he was having.

"Baba, I told you I was going to be out tonight."

"No. LAST night you said you'd be out tonight, it is now three in the morning, it's no longer night."

"Seto, she was indoors, spending the night with friends. She wasn't out going wild in the streets. Leave her alone." By now, Ishizu had picked up a magazine and was flipping through the pages. She stopped and smiled, pointing at a picture. "Ah, look it's Ume! She looks very nice standing with the pharaoh, doesn't she?"

"Will you stop calling him that!" Kaiba sneered in disgust. Ishizu completely ignored him and showed the picture to her daughter instead.

"Did you see this?" She pointed to Ume Motou, the only daughter of Yuugi Motou.

She was a shy looking girl with wide violet eyes. Her deep brown hair had a single naturally occurring streak of blond. Ume also happened to be a good friend of Sagira's and her self-proclaimed number one fan. Being the only daughter of the previous King of Games, Ume was always seen at dueling events even though the girl never played professionally. At one such event, Sagira caught her father speaking rather cruelly to a couple who called themselves his old friends from high school. She immediately recognized Yuugi Motou, and Ume immediately recognized her. Sagira forced the shy girl to leave their bickering parents and have a friendly duel with her, which Ume lost miserably. They'd been friends ever since. Sagira looked at the picture of her friend and smiled.

"Yeah we looked at it when we were hanging out earlier."

"Great, you were with Motou's. That short, annoying, no talent having, jewelry wearing, spiky haired, wimpy, sniveling…"

"Baba!"

"Come on Kaiba! Be my friend Kaiba! Let's all hop and skip and be flamingly homosexual together Kaiba!" He mocked Yuugi's voice. "Oh and don't even get me started on his wife! She was the worst! You have no idea how often I wanted to slap the shit out of her."

"Baba, enough! I wasn't even at Ume's place, she just tagged along when I went to see J.J." Kaiba looked at his daughter with a puzzled look. "You know, the up and coming duelist." When he continued to show no recollection, she sighed. "J.J! Joseph Jr." Kaiba shrugged. Sagira gave her father a look and finally said with reluctance, "Wheeler."

"The Mutt!"

"His son." Ishizu turned the page of her magazine.

"He's a cool kid. He's the oldest and has his own room so we were able to duel without his siblings getting in the way."

"Yeah all seventeen of them." Kaiba muttered.

"The Wheeler's only have four children, don't exaggerate. It's a large family but they seem happy." Ishizu pointed out, keeping her focus on the magazine in her hands.

"You're awfully knowledgeable, aren't you Ishizu."

"I like your high school friends, they're nice people. Besides it's in the article." Ishizu pointed to another article highlighting Joey Wheeler Jr. as someone to keep an eye on. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Plus, he's pretty cute for a younger guy." Sagira added dreamily. "All that wild blond hair! And his eyes! Aye, they're hazel Baba! Hazel!" Sagira looked like she was on cloud nine. She loved pushing her father's buttons. She struggled to hold in a cackle at his disgusted look.

"What the hell Sagira! That kid, he's like seven years old! Don't talk about him like that!"

"He's fourteen."

"Wait, you were alone in this dirty kid's room till three in the morning?"

"I already said Ume was with me."

"Ah, the nurse." Ishizu pointed before Kaiba could say anything else. Everyone stood up to hear what the nurse had to say.

"It was a long tough fight, but everything is fine. I think they're ready to let you in now." The plump nurse said with a weary smile.

"Hamdu lilah." "Hamdu lilah." **(Praise be to God)** Both Sagira and Ishizu sighed a breath of relief. "Were you able to find the right medication?" Ishizu asked with concern. "We really weren't expecting Jahi to react this way, he hasn't had an attack in years."

"Don't worry, it was just anxiety. We were able to talk him down."

"Baka." **(Idiot)** Kaiba muttered under his breath.

"I know, you were worried. But at least you were better about it then you were the first time he had an attack, remember? When he was very small?"

"That's enough, lets go." Kaiba was annoyed by the memory and how he had reacted to that incident. Sagira grabbed her father by the waist and hugged him tightly as they walked. "Oh, and you're taking a bath when you get home. A long one!" Sagira chuckled and jumped up to plant a kiss on her father's cheek. His facial expression did not change, even though he was happy to receive it. That was just his nature.

The Kaiba family was greeted with the sight of Jahi, slouched on a chair, looking just as exhausted as the girl passed out on the hospital bed next to him. In his arms, was the catalyst of the massive anxiety attack he'd suffered hours ago. Her name was Nia. She was the result of a wonderful little act of carelessness between her father, Jahi Kaiba and his girlfriend of only a year, Diedra Johnson.

They'd met a year and a half ago when his father sent him to oversee his offices in America. The sudden boom of visitors at the Kaiba Land Amusement Park was unexpected since it had been a little less than twenty years since it's grand opening and had been consistently doing well. Jahi was there to make sure whatever was happening, kept happening. When Diedra bumped into him at the park, Jahi knew he'd found someone special. How he knew, he wasn't sure, but he knew even though the African American girl wasn't what he was expecting to fall for. Jahi had always gone after tall, older women. His ideal would have been a Japanese version of his mother, maybe three or four years older than him. Diedra was built more like his sister, with slightly less up top and a rounder shapelier bottom (which Jahi came to love most of all). She was about Jahi's complexion with light eyes rimmed with gold.

After a month of dating, Jahi called his father and requested that he be stationed at the Kaiba Corp. America branch. Five months later, she became his official live-in girlfriend. Then, three months into that, she was pregnant. The usually calm and rational nineteen year-old had been a nervous wreck for the eight and a half months that followed. So nervous, he had an anxiety attack and hyperventilated during the delivery. He was calm now, holding his daughter. Exhausted and secretly scared out of his wits, but calm nonetheless.

"Hello." Jahi smiled wearily from the chair.

"Baka." "Baka." "Baka." **(Idiot x3!)** The verbal assault came from all his visitors. Jahi lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Gomen." **(Sorry) **

"Can I see her?" Sagira asked sweetly. She tip-toed over to her brother's side so she could get a better view of the child's face. "Awe!" she cried softly. "She's a cutie! Hello, Nia-chan! I'm your auntie. Welcome to the world!"

"Was the baby shower nice?" Jahi asked his mother.

"It was nice. Everything calmed down, we were all either asleep or drifting off. Then the poor girl went into labor. That was an unexpected surprise."

"Good. I'm glad you two got to know each other."

"I'd love to see more of her. How long will you two be in Japan?" Ishizu asked him, taking a seat by the windowsill behind him, so she could see as well.

"Until Diedra and the baby are ready to travel. In the meanwhile, I bought a house for us to live in so we wont have to disturb you guys anymore."

"Oh you're not a bother."

"They're going to be now that they have a baby." Kaiba retorted. "Good thinking buying the house Jahi."

Jahi smiled in response. Suddenly he looked nervous. Jahi looked at his daughter and then at his father. He felt his mother's hand on his shoulder and she nodded at him. Jahi would always wonder how it was his mother could always tell what he was thinking. Diedra was the same way. Jahi looked back at his father.

"Dad." Jahi called out to his father. Unlike Sagira, he didn't think it was appropriate for a man his age to still be addressing his father as 'Baba' and 'Father' was too formal since they weren't at work. He was always respectful and proper, but around family, the title just seemed too… stiff. "Would you like to hold your granddaughter?"

Kaiba cringed. Why? Why did he have to use that word? Why couldn't he have said 'her' or 'would you like to hold Nia'? Did he have to say granddaughter? It made Kaiba feel like an old man. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't even forty yet! Kaiba took a breath and shook it out. That's what happens when your son tries to be just like you. He had Jahi at nineteen. So now Jahi had Nia at nineteen. Kaiba held out his arms allowing Jahi to place her gently in his arms. When he looked down, he realized the infant was awake. He hadn't expected that since she was so quiet.

"She's going to have Jahi's eyes. Your eyes." Ishizu smiled from her perch.

"Her eyes look black to me." Kaiba said, glancing down at the girl.

"Babies eyes normally do look black right after they're born. But I can tell."

Kaiba looked down at baby Nia. He dared to let out a small smile for her. He was holding another Kaiba child who, according to his wife, was going to have the same eyes as him. As he looked at the infant, he couldn't help but remember the dream he'd had that night so long ago. He remembered every detail of it. He remembered that eighteen year-old Jahi, and all the pain and resentment and anguish he kept hidden inside. He questioned a lot whether or not it was actually a dream, or a premonition, or if he had in fact been contacted with the ghost of a Jahi from another time. After all, the Jahi in his dream looked exactly like the Jahi in front of him now and he had, in fact, had a bubbly daughter that he cherished named Sagira.

Whatever it was, it shook Kaiba to the core. It shook him so much that he couldn't get right out of bed when he woke up. He sat for a while, trying to catch his breath and gain his bearings, and figure out where he was. Then he'd run out of his room into the nursery where Ishizu was still there sleeping and he took her in his arms and embraced her. He had to know she was really there, that she was alive and breathing. He thought about his life now and kicked himself for thinking he could have been satisfied with it any other way. Whatever happened that night, Kaiba was glad it did.

Because if any of that was truthful to what his life could have been like, he much preferred the life he'd lived the second time around.

On May 15th the sun rose.

The Kaiba family would continue to live on.

_**And that's it everybody. I know it was a bit long for a prologue but I've been writing this story for so long, it was heard for me to stop writing. I want to thank all my wonderful reviewers. Without you guys, this story would have stopped at Ishizu in the car, outside the clinic... honestly. I hope you all were satisfied by the ending. Please review and let me know what you thought, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!**_


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